#i know kristoff's late to this party

[loonysama]

Happy Halloween!!!

I usually write something for Halloween, and despite my break from fanfic, I was trying to get something together for this year (y'all, it was going to be a Practical Magic AU!). Sigh. Instead here's some of the Halloween/Fall Frozen fics I have written. Artwork by @keeshya6 and @justfrozenthings , both for The Jakku Lantern. I have started something for Yule, so hopefully I can manifest it! My WIPs are also always on my mind, but sorry I still have a block on them. In the mean time, Happy Halloween, everyone! Hope you enjoy.

Halloween Fics

To Dye For (Kristanna, E)

Anna, an aspiring hair stylist, hopes to get to know her crush/co-worker Kristoff better when he asks her to dye his hair blue. Everything goes well until it doesn't.

The Jakku Lantern (Kristanna, T)

It’s Kristoff, his Mandalorian helmet, and Olaf the Pumpkin King, against Raggedy Anna and Elsa AKA Maleficent, in a pumpkin carving contest judged by Sandy Claws Sven. Will Mando get a happy ending, despite the helmet that just won't budge, in this alternate version of the charades scene from Frozen II?

The Headless Horseman, a Chilling Tale (Kristanna, T)

One Halloween night, Anna finally left her violent and controlling husband Hans and fled through the dark hedges, which were said to be haunted by a headless horseman in search of blood and heads, to get to her sister Elsa. While the headless horseman was only a legend, Anna's cruel husband was real. Will the horrors of the forest be worse than than the husband she left behind?

The Grandfather Clock (Kristanna, T)

There's a demonic presence in the house Anna has inherited from her parents, who died in unexplained circumstances. Determined to sell it and be rid of the burden, she's enlists the help of her ex-husband Hans and Honeymaren's paranormal investigation team, but she finds herself relying on the local sheriff's expertise instead.

When It Rains, It Pours Drabbles (Kristanna, T)

Doorman Kristoff has a run of bad luck when Anna, dressed as the Morton Salt Girl for her friend's Halloween party, walks into the building with a bluster of wind and a dripping wet umbrella. Is it Friday the 13th? Or is it just Anna?

Fall/American Thanksgiving Fics

Ginger Sweet Love (Kristanna, M)

Anna and Kristoff get a second chance to tell each other how they feel when Kristoff shows up unexpectedly at Anna’s Halloween/Friendsgiving party. Let's hope 17 years later isn't 17 years too late.

Uncertain Uncertainties (Kristanna, T)

After getting caught sneaking out of Hans' dorm room, Anna gets stuck helping her folks out at the reenactment of the first Harvest Day at the Olde Arendelle Historic Village instead of spending it with her friends. She's happy enough to play dress up and help out until she gets stuck on table setting duty with Hans' nerdy roommate Kristoff, the guy who ratted her out.

Iduna's Apple (Kristanna, T)

Kristoff had been giving Anna baskets of his best apples for her Harvest Day pies for years, but he was always too shy to express his affection in any other way. Everything changed, though, when Anna got a goat named Sven with a taste for apples.

To Be Continued (Kristanna, T)

Kristoff had less than a week left to finish building his company's float for the Arendelle Harvest Day Parade and he had everything planned out… until his boss Olaf insisted that his niece Anna help out.

[canirove]

My neighbour Rúben | Chapter 20

Previous chapter | Last chapter

Masterlist

“Ok, so they both need to win to get what they want?” grandma asked as we looked for our seats at the Etihad.

“Exactly, love” grandad said. “We need to win to be in the Champions League next year, and they need it to win the title.”

“Have you decided who you are supporting?” grandma asked me once we had sat down.

“No one. Let the best team win” I said.

Lucy and Julia were both wearing City shirts (Lucy Rodri’s, and Julia Rúben’s). Grandad was also wearing his Arsenal shirt, and grandma had bought herself a scarf with both teams on it. I, was wearing nothing.

“You are so boring” Lucy chuckled.

“Oh, there is Aaron” grandad said when the goalkeepers went out to start their warm-up. “Aaron!” he called.

Somehow he heard him, turning around and waving at us. 

“Such a lovely lad” grandad smiled. “Sad that things didn’t work out between you two.”

“Yeah…” I said, starting to feel my cheeks get warm.

“But she has her hot neighbour now, don’t you, sweetie?” grandma said, elbowing me on the ribs. “If they lose today, he’ll probably need a hug.”

“Grandma!”

“Oh, I love this woman” Lucy laughed. 

“You will also have to give a big hug to your boyfriend” she told her.

“Boyfriend? Mami, do you have a boyfriend?” Julia asked.

“I… I…” Lucy muttered. She wasn’t ready to tell her anything yet. She wanted to introduce Rodri as just a friend first, let them get to know each other before using the big word.

“Grandma got things wrong, Julia” I intervened. 

“Oh, yes, yes” she quickly said, realizing her mistake. “I was talking about her boyfriend” she said, looking at me. 

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Yes, you do!” Julia said. “Rúben is your boyfriend, he said it! I saw you kissing like Anna and Kristoff do.”

“Anna and Kristoff?” grandad asked. “Who are those? Friends of yours?”

“You kissed?” grandma said, raising her voice.

“I… I…” Now I was the one freaking out. This whole weekend was going so wrong… ���Look, the Arsenal players are coming out” I said, pointing at the pitch.

“Don’t change the subject. Is Rúben your boyfriend, yes or no?” grandma said, getting serious.

“Can’t we discuss this later?”

“No, we cannot.”

“I need to go to the bathroom” I said, getting up from my seat. But the moment I did, the City players decided to come out to start their warm-up, making everyone else around us also get up from their seats to cheer for them. I tried to walk past them, to push them aside, but I wasn’t able to. The stadium was packed since the game was basically a final.

“Excuse me” I said, the feeling I had when I was trapped on the lift coming back. “Please, let me through.” But no one was moving. They just kept pushing me from one side to the other. “Sir, please, could you move aside?” I said to one big man in front of me.

“What?” he said. He was huge and I was too close to him, so when he turned around to look at who was talking to him, we bumped into each other, making me trip with another man standing next to me. “Careful!” the first man said. But it was too late.

I was already rolling down the stairs.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“What happened?”

“Let her breath!”

“Don’t touch her, she may have broken something.”

“Let me through!” 

Rúben. That last voice was his. Or that was I thought. He sounded so far away…

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“She is waking up.”

“Finally."

“Where… what…” I said. Talking hurt so much. 

“Shh, it’s ok. You are ok” grandma said next to me.

“Water.”

“Here” Rúben said to my other side. I think water had never tasted so good as it did in that moment. Not even after Ben’s party.

“What happened?” I said, trying to slowly open my eyes. The light was so bright…

“Don't you remember anything?” grandma asked me.

“I… It’s confusing.”

“You fell down the stairs at the Etihad” she said.

“I did?”

“You did. And you scared the hell out of all of us” Rúben said.

“Your game… What happened? Who won?”

“That doesn’t matter now. What matters is that you are ok” he said, holding my hand.

“But I want to know. If you are here…”

“I played and we lost” he said after a few seconds in silence. 

“I’m so sorry, Rúben. It was all my fault, I…”

“Actually, it was Aaron’s fault” he said. “He played the best game of his career, and they won 0-1 after John made a mistake.”

“So you… You played well?”

“According to your grandfather, he did, yes. So don’t blame yourself, ok?” grandma said, holding my other hand, one that was covered by a bandage.

“Where is he? And Lucy? Julia? Oh my God, Julia.”

“They all are back home. Julia was a bit shaken at first, but once they told us you were ok and the game started, she calmed down.”

“And I heard Rodri and her already are bffs” Rúben smiled.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” 

“And now, you must rest” grandma said. “Try to sleep a bit more while the drugs are still working.”

“We’ll stay here, right next to you” Rúben said.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

A couple of days later, I was finally able to go home.

“Rúben, I can walk. You don’t need to carry me.”

“I know, but I want to do it. You are princess Anna and I must treat you as such.”

“Fine” I said, kissing his cheek as the lift’s doors opened. “Wait, why are we going to your place?”

“Because I am your nurse. You are staying with me” he said, looking for his key while still carrying me.

“I thought my grandparents were staying.”

“That’s what they wanted to do, but I insisted. And I can be very convincing if needed.”

“Oh, please, don’t smile like that.”

“Like what?” he said, finally opening his door.

“Like that, with the smirk. You know what that smile does to me and we can’t do anything naughty when my hand is like this and I’m covered in bruises.”

“Naughty” he laughed while putting me down on his sofa.

“Your favourite word.”

“My favourite word. But I can wait until you’ve recovered.”

“The one who can’t wait is yours truly” I said while he moved some pillows to make me feel more comfortable. As if that sofa wasn’t the most comfortable one in the world on its own.

“You’ll have to be strong, love.”

“I can’t be strong if you keep smirking like that, you little piece of shit” I said, pointing at him with my bad hand.

“Ok, I’ll try not to do it” he said, caressing my hair and looking at me the same way he did the other night when I met Rodri.

“Penny for your thoughts?” I asked.

“I love you.”

“I’m sorry you what?” It must have been the drugs they gave me. They were making me hallucinate.

“I love you” Rúben repeated. “And it’s ok if you are not ready to say it back, I don’t mind.”

“I…”

“Try to have some sleep, ok?” he said, kissing my forehead. “I’m gonna call your grandma and tell her we are home.”

“Ok…” I muttered, my eyes following him until he disappeared through the corridor. Rúben loved me. He had said it. Twice.

He loved me.

[kristannafever]

Second Chances - 9

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: Explicit WC: 2021

Chapter Index

----------------

“This is happening!” Anna squealed. 

Kristoff laughed.  “It is!”

“I can’t wait,” she said, hugging him around the neck and pulling him in for a kiss.

He basked in the warmth of her kiss and the glow of her happiness.  It had only taken about two weeks for them to plan the entire wedding, and in one short month, they were going to be wed.

“And I’m glad that works for our sisters to take time off to fly home,” she said, pulling out of his embrace and going back to her laptop where she had just finished booking the venue. 

Kristoff was too.  It was a worry when they brought it up with their sisters that they would find work too demanding for the short time frame, but as luck would have it, they were both able to make the trip and take an extra couple of days beforehand to help them prepare. 

-----

They picked a Ranchers Hall in a small rural town about a half hour outside of the city.   It was perfect for Anna’s vision of a country winter wedding.  And while the place was rather small, it didn’t matter since the only people they were inviting were family and only the closest of friends.  All in all, about forty guests.

His sister and Anna’s sister were going to serve as the best person and maid of honor, and it was decided by Kristoff (and greatly appreciated by Anna) that his parents were going to walk with both him and then Anna down the aisle.  As soon as the ceremony was complete, they were going to do some family photos outside while the venue changed the rows of chairs out for tables and started the bar and serving guests.

The flowers Anna chose were white roses because they symbolized the purity of their love and the new beginnings they were having at life with each other. 

The meal they decided on was either prime rib or salmon as per the guest’s choice, and the caterer they had booked also offered appetizers for the cocktail hour and late-night pizza and popcorn for inebriated party goers.  Kristoff thought it would be a good idea to personally pay for the pre-dinner drinks and then charge a toonie bar afterward and to offer pre-paid cab vouchers to anyone who didn’t want to stay in the town’s small hotel so there was no worry of anyone drinking and driving.

Anna had argued briefly with him about the cost of the wedding as he was handling it all, which turned into a rather deep conversation about how he’d lived with his ex.  He told Anna the sad truth that they never really did anything.  They never even went on a vacation together.  Not that he didn’t want to.  It was all his ex.  She had a group of friends from high school she was still extremely close with, and her vacation time was spent solely with them.  At the beginning he didn’t mind too much, thinking it would be nice to have those quiet weeks here and there to himself, then time went on and when he’d brought up her using her time to go somewhere with him, her reaction had been reluctance and confusion; since they lived together already, why would she give up these trips with her friends to spent more time with him.   So she kept taking vacations with her group and Kristoff saved a ton of money over the years for not going anywhere. 

Upon hearing about this, Anna’s face went deep scarlet and she sat there with her teeth clenched frowning at him.

“You know,” she started, “I have a lot of things in my mind that I could say about that, that I want to say about that, then I think of where we are now, how I don’t want to spend another second of my life without you by my side, and I realize that it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Kristoff shook his head.  “Nope.”

Anna sighed, letting go of her anger.  “I will never not appreciate the second chance at love that I got to have with you, Kristoff.  You are my soulmate and I love you more than anything.”

“I love you too.”  He leaned in and kissed her, then pulled his head back and arched an eyebrow.  “That got you kinda mad eh?”

She nodded.  “A little, I guess.  I just don’t like hearing about you getting mistreated.”

“Well, same here, but you know that.”  He smirked at her.  “Care to take out any pent-up aggression on me?”

Anna’s eyes lit up.  “What do you have in mind?”

He put his mouth close to her ear.  “Why don’t you fuck my brains out?”

Anna shuddered.  “How would I do that exactly?”

He shrugged.  “Use your imagination.  My body is your playground.”

She smiled at him wickedly.  “Damn right it is.”  Then she kissed him forcefully.

They began to undress each other when Anna interrupted told him she wanted to go to the bedroom.  Shedding the remainder of their clothes as they went down the hall, they arrived in their room fully naked and attached at the lips. 

Kristoff pressed her down onto the bed, crawled over her, and began kissing his way down her body.  She smiled.  She would definitely have her way with his body as she saw fit, but she was not about to deny the pleasure that his mouth gave her. 

She curled her fingers into his impossibly soft hair, moaning loudly as his tongue lashed out against her clit.  Her back arched as he worked his mouth, and while she was enjoying the hell out of it, she grew impatient to have him.

When she gently tugged his hair, he stopped and looked up at her.  “I need you now,” she whispered.

“How do you want me?” he asked, sitting up.

“On your back.”

Anna moved and he took her place, laying down in the middle of the mattress.  She crawled over him and took a moment to kiss him passionately before she started. 

Moving slowly, she slid down onto his cock with a passionate and somewhat desperate moan.  It amazed her how she seemed to forget in between the moments they were not making love how good it actually felt to have him inside of her.  There was nothing in the world she could compare it with. 

She moved against him, already so close from his mouth, it didn’t take long before Anna felt the pull towards letting go.  Only, this time, she stopped, and her arousal pulsed briefly before quieting down. 

“Fuck, you have no idea how much that makes me crazy,” Kristoff muttered as he caressed her hips.   

She looked down at his face, careful not to move her hips just yet.  “Yeah?”

He nodded slowly.  “It’s…” He let out a long breath.  “It just feels incredible.  Do it again.”

Anna gave him a wicked smile.  “You read my mind.”

She began to move herself against him, slowly at first, then picking up her pace a bit until that feeling came back.  She stopped again, just one more movement away from going too far, and her center quivered against his cock.

“Fuck…” he said slowly. 

Anna held stark still.  If she moved right then, she was going to come and she didn’t want to just yet.  She waited until her arousal died down, then finally relaxed her body against him. 

“I have to be honest, Anna,” Kristoff said, his hands massaging her thighs, “I don’t think I will be able to last you doing that again.”

She smiled at him.  “Does you in that much, huh?”

“You have no idea,” he mumbled, curling his hands around her back and pulling her down for a kiss. 

Anna gave in to his lips, kissing him back and starting to move herself against him.  She went slow this time, allowing herself to feel every second of her renewed growing arousal.  She pulled back from his lips and braced her hands on his chest as she got closer.  She had never felt such a deep need for an orgasm in all her life.

Kristoff’s grip was tightening on her hips and she knew he was going to come as soon as she did.  Anna found that edge again, only this time she did not deny herself.  She gasped as it got closer, and then a second later she was crying out with sweet relief.

Kristoff cried out softly with her, holding her firmly to him as they climaxed together.  It felt amazing to Anna to be able to ride out her orgasm with his cock pulsing powerfully within her.  It was basically mind-melting pleasure.  It was no wonder she was hooked on it like a drug.  A drug she was so thoroughly addicted to, that she knew they would have sex at least one more time before the end of the day. 

Or maybe two or three.  There seemed to be no way to satiate their hunger for one another.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

Their wedding day was stunningly perfect.

Everything went according to plan and the only hiccup of the entire day was when Anna realized she accidently left her precious jewellery – the pieces she got back from her shitty ex – at home.  It was rectified shortly by Kristoff’s parents driving into the city to fetch them while the wedding party got ready.

What followed was flawless.

At the end of the night, with only a few guests left snacking on the pizza and the popcorn and talking in groups, Anna looked over at Kristoff, the happy and slightly drunk smile on his face, and felt her heart nearly explode with love. 

He was talking to Chester and his parents and laughing about something.  Anna could not take her eyes off of him; the most stunning man on the face of the planet in his pressed suit pants and white button down with the tie gone, top buttons undone, and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.  His hair was mussed from dancing all night, his brown eyes shinning so brightly with life, his smirk of a smile on full display.  Truly, he was nothing but complete perfection in Anna’s eyes.  The sexiest man on the face of the planet.

He happened to glance her way, catching her staring at him, and he turned towards her and smiled.  They walked towards each other and straight into a tight embrace. 

“I can’t believe you are my wife,” he mused, kissing her neck. 

“God, I can’t believe you are my freaking husband!” Anna said back excitedly.  She pulled back to look at his face.  “And now we get to have a whole hell of a lot of fun making some children.”

“You bet your ass we do,” he breathed, and kissed her. 

-----

About an hour later, Kristoff was pushing himself into her. 

The foreplay was only a couple of sloppy drunk kisses before Anna was begging for him.  It didn’t matter to her, her only goal for the night was for him to come inside of her.  She’d had her IUD removed a couple of weeks ago and in the interim before the wedding, he’d worn protection.  Anna much preferred the feeling of his naked skin without the rubber barrier.    

“I can’t wait for tomorrow,” he said between kisses.  “I am so excited to take a real vacation.  With my wife!”

“Me too,” Anna said through a sigh.  “Oh, Kristoff, me too.”

He took the hint that she didn’t want to talk too much and pressed his pelvis flush with hers.  He knew exactly what he was doing, and even through all the drinks, Anna knew she was going to come and that he was holding out to join her. 

She let go of every thought besides the building feeling in her abdomen.  It grew until it reached the point where Anna’s mind went utterly blank, then she reached the edge and fell over it.  They moaned, holding each other through every strong contraction of their shared orgasm.

---

Previous Chapter

[fantasyqueen502]

Elsa’s Masquerade

Word count: 426

Rated: G, fluff, female love interest, masks, Masquerade ball, masks, and dancing. 

Summary: Queen Elsa meets a masked stranger at Arendelle’s Masquerade ball in celebration of her sister’s engagement. A short story idea that most likely has grammatical errors. Let me know. Feel free to comment, like, and enjoy.

"Ah, Your Majesty," one of the palace staff calls, upon finding the queen looking out upon the balcony.

"There's no need for formalities." The queen reminds

"The guests are ready." He bows, walking alongside the queen down the grand halls. Portraits of The late king and queen, the young princesses through the ages. "Seems that only yesterday you two were mere children.” he reminisced “Now off to get married,"

"This is only Anna's engagement celebration. The wedding is a long ways away." Elsa corrects.

"Then it will be your turn, Your Majesty," he says with a teasing look.

Elsa wrinkles her nose, as she did as a child when asked to finish her pickled herring.

"It's Anna's day." She exhales, picking up a crystal mask resembling ice crystals that is perfectly fitted to her face.

Music rode the air as many paired guests danced, Bellows of Sven as he trotted with Olaf, Kristoff and Anna faces red with laughter, jumping and flailing with what Elsa assumed was dancing. Elsa finding a home near the walls, a step away from the energetic flow of the people. She peeks to see another woman watching the crowd as well. She catches her eyes, causing Elsa to blush as she looks away.

"Are Arendelle’s gatherings usually this extravagant?" the stranger asks.

"No, they’re usually much bigger." Elsa swallows, smiling at the sight of Anna dancing with Sven and Kristoff dancing with Olaf pulling off his arms on the spin. "What kingdom are you from?" her majesty asks, trying to take a peek at the little skin the stranger's mask allowed on her face.

"Masquerade-themed engagement party," Anna’s voice squealed in her mind.

Only E/C eyes that twinkled in the flames of candles littered the great hall’s chandeliers.

"Too small for a majesty such as yourself to take notice of," The stranger shrugs.

"I make it my mission to know all kingdoms, big and small." Elsa assures, the stranger only smirks as the queen lists every kingdom alphabetically.

“Smart and Beautiful.” she coos with wanting eyes. Elsa scoffs turning her nose up at the stranger in defiance. "May I have this dance, your Majesty." She asks, extending her hand while bowing.

Elsa chuckles hesitantly accepting. Allowing herself to be pulled out into the crowd. Placing Elsa’s hand on her shoulder while she loops hers around her waist holding her close. "You’re leading." The stranger points out.

"As a queen should." Elsa states, head high.

"Who says I’m not a queen as well?" She counters by cutting Elsa off with a spin.

[piratekane]

i got an ask in my email that never showed up in my inbox that was basically looking for book recs and since only one person asked for my opinion and because this was the year i fell back in love with reading, i'm going to do a myspace Top 8 books i loved this year, in no particular order:

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein this is basically a love story. it's a love story and you won't change my mind. i don't mean romantic love except that i mean best friends loving each other to and through the end of the world can be romantic and we should say that more often. because this a book about war and its terrors but it's also the love story between two best friends and what they'll do to get back to each other. it has probably one of my favorite protagonists ever - actually, two of my favorites. Wein tells a devastatingly perfect story and i promise your heart will swell and sink and tie itself into tiny knots. kiss me, hardy! kiss me quick! 5 stars, i cried at the end

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo i was late to the SoC books and boy am i glad i finally showed up to the party. this book was perfection. i immediately fell in love with each crow and spent the whole book screaming that if nina and matthias didn't kiss ASAP that i was going to throw something. i also was yelling about kaz and inez, do not think i was not doing that. kex brekker you deserve love you street rat. @dealanexmachina had to deal with the screaming through this. and i think it's going to be a repeat read in 2024 just so i can experience the care and craftsmanship that went into each character, their nuances, and how it wove perfectly together into kaz's brilliant plan. 5 stars, i immediately read the sequel like a hungry jaugar hunting down a person wearing that calvin klein scent

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson brando sando is... prolific. and it was overwhelming to jump in, but i started with tress and not any of his other books (a problem i have rectified) and what a bang it was. this book is, in a word, hilarious. the narrator is a fantastical being with an aversion to linear thought and a predilection for hilarity. the humor in this book is unlike any of sandos other work and really shows that he has the ability to stretch. the premise is very clever and very cool and just very fun. tress is brave and smart and that's celebrated, not punished. plus who doesn't love a talking rat? i'm looking forward to his other secret projects 4.5 stars, the narrator is my favorite sando character

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak okay, this is billed as horror, but i wouldn't really say horror and would lean more into the mystery billing than anything. maybe thriller. and it's outside my usual genre and is definitely more suited to my wife's tastes but she finished this book in three days (and usually takes 3 weeks-to-months to finish books) and when she said i had to read it, i said yes dear and picked it up. i'm glad i did. it's an illustrated mystery and as the author writes in the notes, those who pay attention will be rewarded. the ending was a twist i didn't see coming, like, at all. and it was clever. but once the ending started to unfold it was a mad dash to the finish. 5 stars, my wife recommends this

The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff now, i know. this is actually 3 books, not 1. but hear me out - they must all be read. it's nonnegotiable. these books were recommended by tumblr user @fiddleabout and am i so very glad they were. mia is unhinged. there's no other way to put that. the girl is fucking off. her. rocker. and no one in her life is any better. they're all just as freaking crazy. but they're my crazy comfort killers. i went on for hours about mia and ash, to the point that my wife shut the bathroom door in my face because i tried to follow her in there talking about them. this series is bloody and more than once i was like, he can't possibly make this any bloodier but he CAN and i think this book is better for it. found family, check. unhinged teenage protagonist, double check. endless fun, check in triplicate. 4.5 stars, i am never not thinking of ash and her vision of a house on a lake and softness

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon obviously i read priory first and obviously i loved it but ADoFN was... mind-blowing. maybe because priory enriched the world of ADoFN and i was already familiar with all the intricacies of it (though there was certainly more to learn) but reading this just... the bridging Shannon did, the connections she made between priory and ADoFN and how we ultimately saw the way ADoFN threaded some of the loops we saw closing in priory, it blew my mind. the utter romance of it all, my god. i read this monster book in a single day, i couldn't put it down. i emerged from my ADoFN cocoon like andy samberg in that one SNL skit where he plays a teenager who just woke up. i was changed(TM) 5 stars, i was a changed man

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo i immediately jumped into the rest of the Leigh's work (i went through SaB first but she's so strong at the end of this Grishaverse) and while i love all my SoC babes, nina was a favorite and honestly i'd recommend both King of Scars and this book. tumblr user fiddleabout was blessed to follow along with my completely unhinged livestream of this book and when (spoiler) zoya and nikolai finally got over themselves and K I S S E D, i put the book down and took a lap. then i picked it up and screamed again as nina's arc unfolded. 5 stars, i have a lot of thoughts about the kind of man nikolai is (peg)

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty i'm a bit of a sucker for a pirate book. even more of a sucker about a woman pirate, and amina is a woman pirate of the highest caliber. this book is either intentionally funny or unintentionally hilarious. amina's biggest flaw is that she's constantly ogling her demon ex-husband's cute butt - honest to god. otherwise, she's perfection. badass, scrappy, jacked. amina is all of those things and then some. so she has a bit of a past that winds up coming back to bite her in the ass and then she's thrust back onto a ship where she has to chase down an old crewmate's daughter - can you blame a girl for being the most kickass pirate in all of the seas? no! should you? absolutely not! just let amina live out her life ogling ass and sailing leisurely, please. 4.5 stars, i want to sail on amina's ship even though i'm afraid of boats. and the ocean. and things living in the ocean. and generally the water.

( ͡❛ ᴗ ͡❛)👍 and now you know, cause it's mike's pirate's super short show! ( ͡❛ ᴗ ͡❛)👍

[annaofthenorthernlights]

Swing with it

Happy birthday to @justfrozenthings

There´s a little Kristanna fluff-romance one-shot (1,4k) hopefully fluffing up your day 💜

May you always find a moment to breath and let your soul swing free!

Inspired by your own fanart... read below the cut or on AO3

“Thanks buddy!” Kristoff patted Sven on his neck and fed him a carrot, after he considered his mission complete.

It fit. His test was accomplished. It was time to go. He gathered all the tools and stored them in the saddle satchel.

“Come on, Olaf, let´s go or do you want to miss the cake?” Kristoff chuckled noticing the little snowman still playing admiringly with Anna´s surprise gift.

“Oh, sure!” he giggled hopping along and Kristoff swooped him up on Sven who snorted contentedly.

“Do you think that Elsa has blabbed out something?” Olaf mused suddenly.

“I doubt it. She´s a good keeper of important secrecy.” Kristoff assured him and they happily made their way down to the city. It was not polite of the prince consort to be late for his wife´s birthday celebration.

----------------

One hour later everything went traditionally since that first surprise party they had held for Anna four years back. The only difference, Elsa had come from the Enchanted Forest to spend the day with her sister while some of the Northuldra friends had come to visit, too.

Anna was so excited and there were no official royal duties burdening her shoulders on this day. The celebration was as always, a wonderful treat and the people cheering and the food splendid. She scurried from table to table to have at least a small chat with everybody, patting every child´s head and endearingly noticed the Northuldra people mingling with Arendellian folks.

Mother and Father would be so happy…

She felt a little melancholic for a jiffy of a moment, when she felt a comforting and strong hand on her shoulder.

“May I have this dance, your majesty?”

“Kristoff!” Anna gasped and put a hand to her chest. “I am so sorry. I have hardly seen you, neither shared a word with you. Please forgive me.”

“That´s alright.” Kristoff laughed. “It´s your birthday, and since you have promised me the evening, I am not at all cross.”

He led her in the middle of the courtyard and bravely opened the dancing session with a swift waltz.

Anna mused about the transformation that man had gone through, and yet still being himself, not turning into one of those snobby princes with no brain… she loved him so much.

As the evening went on and people started to leave, Elsa bid her good night, too. She had promised Honeymaren to show her to her room. It was getting late for all of them.

“But Elsa, don´t you want to come and see what Kristoff got for me?” Anna squeezed her sister´s hand.

Elsa smiled and shook her head.

“First, I know what it is, and I will come tomorrow to see. Second, we had all day together while Kristoff must do without you so many times.

That was true, and she hugged Elsa.

----------------

“Is it still far then?” Anna shifted on her seat next to Kristoff while Sven pulled the sled up the hill towards the cliffs. Olaf giggled, standing behind her in the back.

“Just a little patience, Anna. Oh, you will so like what Kristoff got for you.” He pranced on the spot and shrugged innocently when Kristoff turned his head throwing a warning glance into the snowman´s direction, please not to spoil the surprise. But Anna didn´t notice and huffed playfully.

“You know I don´t have any patience when it comes to surprises. Don´t you have a tiny hint for me?”

“Slow down, feisty pants, it´s your birthday and you deserve the thrill.” Kristoff teased her.

She shook her head but then hugged his arm, nestling her head on his shoulder with a sigh.

“You are right, both of you. I am sorry. It´s been so rare lately that I had some time off just like this.”

“As I said, you deserve it, princess.” Kristoff pecked a kiss into her hair.

It didn´t take that much longer until they arrived at the promised premise. Kristoff detached Sven from the sled and helped Olaf out.

The twilight was bathing everything in a golden light, and the view from the cliffs was simply breath-taking. Anna sat staring into the wide horizon and sighed in awe.

“Sitting on the castle´s roof is awesome already, but this is just not to top… thanks for bringing me here.”

“You´re welcome.” Kristoff said quietly and held out a hand for her to jump from the wagon. “But this is not the actual surprise.”

“No?” Anna looked up at him mouth agape.

“No. Come on, I´ll show you.” Kristoff laced an arm around her shoulder and together they followed Sven and Olaf further toward the cliff´s edge. Anna´s curiosity rose to the almost unbearable. But she bit her lips not to pond her husband with questions. He wanted to surprise her with… whatever… and the last she wanted was to spoil his excitement about it.

Kristoff stopped and turned her around to face him.

“You know sitting on the castle´s roof might rise some confusion when the people see their queen up there. Besides, I believe it does you good to get away from time to time, to breath fresh air and let your soul swing undisturbed.”

“Oh, Kristoff, you´re so right. And the place here is wonderful. I will take your advice serious.”

“I hope you will, and know that whenever you want to come up here, a short notice suffices and Sven and I will gladly bring you here. And I am sure, Olaf will bid you good company, too.”

“Sure!” The snowman squealed, skipping along, and kneading his stick hands before his belly. “So, when will you show her?!”

“Show me what?” Anna looked back and forth between them, puzzled.

Kristoff laughed. “This.”

And he led her a few steps further and around a big rock onto another platform overlooking Arend´s fjord.

Anna gasped, grabbed Kristoff´s hand, and pressed a palm to her mouth.

“You didn´t!”

“Want to try?” he asked fondly and led her to the promised spot.  

Anna nodded feverishly and looked her gift up and down.

“Is it safe?” she asked rather out of astonishment than of doubt. If Kristoff had built it himself, she could be sure it fit for a hundred trolls´ weight.

“It is.” He assured her laughingly. “Sven has helped me checking. You´ll be fine.” He held her around her waist and carefully placed her on the swing that hung from a great tree that was rooted within the rocks.

Anna panted excitingly and wriggled herself into the wooden seat, holding on to the ropes.

“Ready?” Kristoff asked and when she squealed in delight, he gave her a swift push.

This was amazing and she could not get enough from the swinging fun. The air brushing her skin and the feel of flying giving her a sense of inexplicable freedom.

But at some point, she turned her head and pleaded for Kristoff to join and with one leap he hopped onto the plank behind her, his feet each next to her.

Olaf and Sven laid in the grass and enjoyed watching the laughing fun.

It was only right that Anna had some carefree time and that with the one she loved the most.

And while she leaned her head against her husband´s strong thigh, Anna was sure that she would know exactly where to go when her soul needed some time to breath and swing free!

“Thank you!” she whispered quietly, some time later when she sat on Kristoff´s lap, both of them enjoying the silent moment without any royal duties calling for them.

“You´re welcome… happy birthday, Anna!” he nuzzled into her hair.

Anna turned her head and pecked a kiss to his lips, quickly giving a side glance to the sleeping reindeer and snowman.

“This was such fun and I loved it.”

“I am glad.”

“Next time…” she trailed a finger along his neck, “do you think we could come here just the two of us... alone?”

“Sure, why not?!” He kissed her in turn.

“Hmmm” she hummed, “because I might have an idea, to surprise you, too...”

“So?”

“Yes… I am sure we could use this swing in some other tantalizing way..."

Source for the swing picture: https://de.depositphotos.com/54330847/stock-photo-swing-on-the-hill.html

[aethramusings]

thread wishlist ! !

i have compiled an EASILY ACCESSIBLE post about thread ideas that i have ! ! we do NOT have to do any of these threads for me to be excited about roleplaying with you , but i understand that coming up with ideas on the fly can be stressful , so here are some brainstorm starters ! these can apply to ANY muse unless stated otherwise , but i have included some muses i have particular interest in ! i am more than open to the idea of modifying any of these so long as it does not include any phobias or smut . please note that just because a thread is in one " category " does NOT mean it has to stay that one ! angst can turn to fluff , romantic to angst , etc . i have included a RANKING system , three asteriks indicating a HIGH interest in doing this thread !

FLUFF —

( rapunzel , elsa , olaf ) sleepover threads ! ! particularly involving late night baking . my muses all have a WIDE range of baking skill ( from zero to . literally spent the first twenty one years of her life only doing that ) , so shenanigins could ensue !

* ( elsa , kristoff , rapunzel , joan ) snowed in ; preferably between two muses with some sort of negative tension between them , whether it be two muses who straight up cannot STAND each other , or good friends who just got into an argument ! being forced to stay in close proximity and resolving their differences ( note ; this does not HAVE to be fluff ! )

* ( honey lemon , joan , hiccup , nod ) animal care ! our muses , for whatever reason , have been tasked with training a dog , taking in a stray cat , or caring for a sick chick . whatever it may be , the two are forced to work together to care for this sweet animal .

SICK TW ; one of our muses caring for the other while sick !

ANGST —

** INJURY TW ; ( hiccup , nod , rapunzel , elsa ) your muse / my muse has found the other one injured in some capacity ; whether it range from a paper cut to something that needs serious medical attention .

NIGHTMARE TW ; ( constance , nod , elsa ) your muse / my muse has discovered the other waking up from a nasty dream , and the other muse is tasked with deciding how / if they will help to calm the other down .

** ( rapunzel , elsa ) our muses having an argument about something , forcing both of them to look inwards and reflect on themselves and their relationship , whether it be enemies to family . ( PLEASE NOTE : i would like the muns to have a good relationship before embarking on this kind of thread , i want to ensure it doesn't become a thread where one muse is forced to take all the blame in a situation where that isn't fair . )

ROMANTIC — ( PLEASE NOTE : i would like the muns to have a good relationship && for the muses to have had a few threads , even if they are canonically in a romantic relationship . i also do NOT do smut ; all " spicy " encounters will fade to black . obviously , olaf is excluded from all of these threads . )

*** ( everyone ) ANYTHING involving an argument interlaced with romantic tension , i am such a sucker for that . muse a gets mad about something muse b does , muse b doesn't know why muse a cares so much , bam . perfect romance plot . i typically like this type of thread BEFORE our muses are romantically involved , more so like a heated confession thread .

( rapunzel , elsa , nod ) threads where one muse gets surprised by the other ! not in a " throwing a surprise party " way , but where one muse has given the other a gift / letter / planned a date that captures how much they listen to the other individual and care about their interests .

( elsa , kristoff , joan ) meeting the family threads ; OH man . i completely understand it can be difficult to write another character / multiple other characters that you aren't normally comfortable writing , but if this is something you'd be willing to explore i would adore it ! this can be pre - an established relationship or post .

VERSE SPECIFIC —

*** ( rapunzel specific ) taking place in VERSE TWO for RAPUNZEL ; rapunzel has freed herself from the tower , and meets [ YOUR MUSE ] when she sneaks out of the castle for a night of exploration !

HOGWARTS TW / ANTI JKR ; ( constance , rapunzel , elsa , nod ) anything with any of my muses hogwarts verses . unless requested , all of my muses are around sixth / seventh years . give me classroom shenanigens , a quidditch match , bonding in the library late at night , discovering their patronuses - or even POST hogwarts ! working together , etc .

( elsa , rapunzel ) modern verse anything . i am willing to adjust my muses modern verses to better fit with the environment that they are in . i adore this kind of setting for " rom com " type plots , but i am also 100% for it in entirely platonic settings , familial , or rival !

the " actor " au ; while this isn't a set verse for any of my muses , it is avaliable to explore . essentially , our muses are not their characters , but rather the actors that PORTRAY their characters in a world ( so , ours i guess ) where their fictional characters are on a popular movie , tv show , etc .

*** ( elsa specific ) httyd au ; whether as a very young girl elsa ended up on berk by some tragedy , or is now stranded as an adult due to a shipwreck , an exploration of her in that world would be EVERYTHING to me .

MISC . —

** ( nod ) buddy cop ANYTHING . i adore two muses having to work together to solve some sort of mystery , especially when the muses likely wouldn't have had a run in otherwise .

[my-dumb-obsessions]

So according to some of the party camp dialog in DAO, the blight in Ferelden lasts about a year, with awakening taking place 6 months after the end of DAO.

The Hawke family fled Lothering at the beginning of the blight and wound up in Kirkwall where Hawke and Carvethany worked as smugglercenaries for a year to pay off the bribes needed to move to Kirkwall.

By the timeline, awakening should be happening concurrently with Act 1 of DA2, so why is Anders in Kirkwall when he should be in Amaranthine according to the timeline?

Ha! Because they totally screwed the pooch on that timeline and basically forgot Awakening existed! So the short answer is, he isn't in Kirkwall when he should be in Amaranthine. It's hard to figure out from gameplay because there's no sense of a passage of time or seasons in Origins. Do we just assume it started on the first day of the year 9:30, and ended on the last day of the year? Who knows, it's all very hand-wavy. The problem is the Blight needs to be over for Anders to join the Wardens, but it has to still be going on for the Hawkes to leave Ferelden. You have to make up your own timeline to make sense of it. Here's my own rough, hand-wavy timeline:

In my canon, the Hawke family doesn't go to Kirkwall (via Gwaren) from Lothering. When you get to Kirkwall, the guards tell you they've been taking refugees for months, but it takes less than a month to sail from Gwaren and people in northern Ferelden didn't even believe it was a true Blight at first, where are the refugees coming from? So the initial flight gets pushed back. I have Flemeth taking the Hawkes to Denerim because (as Bethany tells you) there are a lot of Templars in Kirkwall and it's not safe. So the Hawkes spend the entirety of Origins living near Denerim, and only flee across the sea when the Blight makes its way north (say, after the Landsmeet, late 9:30). Because you don't just walk onto a boat when there's a refugee crisis, it takes them 1-2 months to actually get passage once they start trying. They leave shortly before the battle of Denerim.

So, Blight ends at the end of 9:30, Anders makes his last escape slightly before Broken Circle (let's give it half a year). He's attempting to get from Denerim (working at the Pearl) to Kirkwall for Karl and thinks he can blend in with the refugees. Chooses to sail from Amaranthine because of the rumor about his phylactery. Let's move Awakening up 3 months, so early 9:31, because whoever's ruling wants to discredit the Howes right away. Awakening is one campaign, so I give it about 2 months for the events of the DLC, (spring/summer 9:31; Hawkes are starting their year of service).

Here's where it gets super hand-wavy: how long does Anders stay with the Wardens after the Mother/Architect are defeated? How long before Kristoff's body is too decayed to function? Knowing that my Warden would never make Anders give up Ser Pounce, I can only assume someone else was in charge. How long does it take for Weisshaupt or Orlais to send someone to replace the HoF at Vigil's Keep? And why? I say just under a year before HoF is called to Weisshaupt (early 9:32, taking Nathaniel - the most likely Warden Constable - with them), and the acting Commander is a Chantry man who recruits Templars and is horrible to Anders, leading him to flee shortly after. This is much easier if he can shapeshift into a bird ;-).

So he meets Hawke after he's been in Kirkwall only a month or so, summer 9:32, when her year of service is up. Act 1 takes about 6 months (50 sovereigns is a lot for a refugee), Deep Roads expedition happens end of 9:32/early 9:33 and then I cut the time jump to a year so Act 2 begins in 9:34 as usual. I'm sure this has as many holes as the canon timeline, but it's mine and I like it.

[underscore-jude]

Carlos Rodriguez, costumes, and body image

This last episode set me off on an investigation into Carlos’ costumes and general demeanor this season, namely the 3 shirts bit and his entire exchange with Miss Jenn about his costume. I think if they’re not setting up Carlos to have a body image arc in this season, it’s gonna be a major player next season, cause if this is just a one off thing they’re mentioning once or twice and never expanding upon (namely: getting Carlos help), I will never forgive Tim. So, let's take a look about all of the things the narrative might have been telling us about Carlos' relationship with his body this season.

also yes, i'm probably reading into this way more than was intended. leave me be

first: his outfit in 3x01.

disregarding his body language, which is also all sorts of concerning (hugging his bag close to his chest could be related to this but it's probably also just being generally uncomfortable in a new place esp with the fact that Crash just send shards of glass flying in his direction seconds before), it's interesting that he decided to wear a jacket and long pants on the first day of summer camp. Like, it's late June-early July, and he's the only character that's wearing an outfit like this.

and as for the rest of the season? while everyone else is wearing a variety of summer clothes, he is consistently in baggy/large shirts and long pants, even to sing "Fabulous" at the pool. His color war outfit in 3x06 is the first time we even see him wearing shorts all summer.

moving on, this sequence in the What Time Is It/Start The Party mashup:

where he films the others dancing but never gets in front of the camera himself. Yes, Carlos is the social media guy, but even in Something In The Air he was able to get on camera and sing. We know he has stage fright and is more comfortable behind the camera, and this is just another example of that in addition to being a fun little "yeah carlos is the SM guy haha" moment.

then, there's the matter of the cast list debacle.

from the looks of it, Carlos only really scratches out his own name, and we don't get to see what he changes it to. but given his reaction and everything else later on down the line, chances are he changed his role to Kristoff or Hans.

Most of the other boys on this show are conventionally attractive, physically fit dudes, namely EJ, Ricky, and Seb, who also happen to be some of Carlos' best friends and his boyfriend. Add Jet in the mix, who got cast as Hans, which is kind of the perfect role for Carlos, and you can see why he might be thinking there's something else that made Val want to cast him as Olaf instead- this is now the second semester in a row that he's been sidelined in favor of one of the other boys for a human male lead, lest we forget that he's one of the three guys who sang for Gaston at BATB auditions, along with Ricky and EJ. I don't care that it was probably for the bit, he auditioned for Gaston and it's canon.

so then we actually see him in the Olaf costume for the first time. and he looks...

...less than pleased. to be fair, this is when he's doing his part as the instigator and knows full well he's going to start causing a ruckus, so I'm less inclined to actually believe this is totally telling about how he feels about the costume in general, but there's gotta be some truth behind it- if i were forced to wear a costume that looked like that and be described as having "a big round belly and a big bouncy butt" i wouldn't be happy either. like, they could've just gotten the man a puppet, but they didn't and there might be a reason!!

and then we come to 3x06, where they actually start making it look like this was intentional.

Carlos is not Ricky or EJ, who'd probably be fine being shirtless on camera. Meanwhile, Carlos can't even be shirtless in front of his bunkmates, and is for some reason wearing THREE shirts to bed, again, in the middle of the summer.

then, he makes this comment to Miss Jenn:

and when she asks if he wants her to get him a quick change booth, he replies:

and when Miss Jenn says someday he'll learn to love his own body, this is his immediate reaction:

He seems to be realizing this for the first time. Like it's not just normal for him to think this way about how he looks. Carlos grew up in the dance world. Look at guys who are principals at the world's biggest ballet companies and it's obvious what's expected of a male dancer, and Carlos probably knows that.

So now I wanted to look into some of the stuff from other seasons, and all I gotta say is: TW for disordered eating from this point forward.

My first instinct was to go back to the Thanksgiving episode where Carlos says this:

"My family usually has three protein courses and is asleep by six." which is...concerning, to say the least.

I was curious if any other comments like this are made, and I learned a few things I really didn't want to! for example:

in 2x02, while all the kids are scattered eating lunch, Carlos is very clearly set up at a table with Gina, Ricky, and Big Red eating school lunches, and two sack lunches that Ashlyn and Seb are eating out of. I painstakingly counted all of the bag lunches and school trays compared to the students, and Carlos straight up doesn't have any food in this scene. And looking into everything else, I have to wonder if it was intentional on the prop people's part.

I looked at a few other scenes to see if this was a trend, for example in 2x01 he makes himself a plate of food at the NYE party and then it completely disappears, but tbh I think that's more a continuity error than anything else XD

So, all this to say: while I don't think this was something they've been intentional in the first two seasons, it's clear in s3 that they were intending to do something with Carlos that never really came to fruition vis-a-vis body dysmorphia and the like. Unless they give us something really big in the last two episodes, I'll be really disappointed if they don't go anywhere with this, cause now that they've explicitly stated that Carlos is having some sort of issue in 3x06, I expect them to take that seriously and not just drop it as Tim is so keen to do. They don't have to magically resolve all of Carlos' body issues before the end of the season, but at least don't have it fade away into nonexistence so that we can have some other bullshit be his issue in s4.

Do with this information what you will. I just went down a rabbit hole today, and if you read all of this, uhhhh. thanks i guess? go watch crazy ex girlfriend?

[loonysama]

Ginger Sweet Love

Kristanna Halloween Days ~ Tricks & Treats

Frozen ~ Kristanna

Rated: M

Chapters 2/7 now posted

Anna and Kristoff get a second chance to tell each other how they feel when Kristoff shows up unexpectedly at Anna’s Halloween/ Friendsgiving party. Let's hope 17 years later isn't 17 years too late.

Read @ AO3.

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

“You know, he’s not going to come,” Elsa said as the back door swung shut.

Anna pursed her lips and scrunched up her face because she knew Elsa was probably right. 

“Who’s not going to come?” she asked in a vain effort to hide her feelings.

Elsa gave her a sympathetic look as she cracked and stirred a couple of eggs into the now empty bowl.

“Oh.  You mean Kristoff?”  She pried open the metal top and worked against the whoosh of the pumpkin slipping out of the can while Elsa opened the can of condensed milk and added it to the orange mixture Anna was diligently stirring.  “Why would I care if Kristoff was coming?  I haven’t even talked to him in, like, forever.”

Anna turned around to pull the sugar from the cabinet, and hide the pain of Elsa’s truthful words.

“Oh, I don’t know.  Maybe because of all the K+A hearts scribbled into the margins of your middle school notebooks?” Elsa rolled her eyes and tilted her head to the side, then added, “And some of your high school notebooks.”

“Oh, that?  Pfft.” Anna threw her hand to the side to emphasize her nonchalance.  “That was just a stupid crush.  And it was so long ago!  Obviously, I moved on.”

Continue reading @ AO3.

@kristanna-days

[bisexualvampires]

i was tagged by @chapeldean & @sleepycas <3

rules: answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to get to know better.

name: aoife

star sign: virgo

height: 5'3 or 5’4. something like that.

time: 6.41pm

birthday: september 9th

favourite bands/artists: MCR, nightwish, hozier, lord huron, a day to remember.

last movie: i watched labyrinth for the first time ever the other day! immediately followed by 10 things i hate about you.

last show: last show i finished was stranger things, last episode of one i watched was better call saul.

when did i create this blog: think it’ll be 10 years ago this september. time is fake.

what I post: spn/destiel. sometimes fics. lately some stranger things (eddie babey) and ofmd

last thing i googled: kas theory stuff lmao i’m weak, look away

other blogs: i did just make a stranger things blog the other day to avoid polluting you all with my brain worms but we’ll see if i keep it up

do I get asks: sometimes. i love getting asks! be nosy 😘

following: 665. most are inactive from like 2013-15 but i love seeing them rise from the dead when supernatural happens in 2022

average hours of sleep: 7ish

instruments: none :( i gave up guitar and piano lessons and regret it so bad. unless then tin whistle counts lmao.

what im wearing: white vest top, black leggings, purple flannel.

dream job: all i wanna do is write but running a gay little bookstore someday would be lovely

dream trip: ohh i’d love to go to new zealand and visit lotr sites. iceland. or pretty much anywhere with castles and fun things to explore

nationality: irish

last book i've read: godsgrave by jay kristoff. slowly reading a turn of the earth for the past month too

top 3 fictional universes i'd like to live in: middle earth. spn (for cas). idk one with vampires would be fun 😌

i’m a bit late to the party so i think a lot of you have done this already. feel free to ignore the tags <3

@emeraldcas @sobernatural @caskarass @faithlesshunter @magickastiel @turnedintoearth @blue-eyed-cutiepatootie @achillestiel @marlborocas @destieldisaster @biconmish @bluishorange @beingforcedtolivebadwriting @emzwolf @bestiarum

[gottawriteanegoortwo]

Hi everyone! I would like to be a million years late and present the idea of an AU based on Frozen (mainly the Broadway soundtrack) but with our darling Who Killed Markiplier characters appearing here and there.

But instead of the predictable “Damien is Anna and Celine is Elsa”, let me take inspiration from the Damien animation and instead offer you... 

Celine as Elsa, but Damien in the role of Kristoff.

Wait wait, before you scroll on, take a sketch as a bribe to click the read more for a better explanation and more art.

-

Before you start questioning anything, you might have noticed something: there’s a bit of the hair I didn’t colour. That’s because Damien is still Celine’s brother. When they were children, the same incident occurred, but with one major difference: they snuck outside. When Celine’s powers got the better of her, the impact sent Damien flying into the fjord. By the time their royal parents and staff were able to start the search, he had disappeared and was presumed dead.

In reality, he fell unconscious as he was pushed and pulled by the water, eventually washing up near where the trolls had set up camp. Damien’s nightwear didn’t give any indication of royalty, so they didn’t know where he was from. All they could do was act to remove as much of the ice from his head as possible before anything happened, though some was left behind. Not only did this leave the distinctive white strands, but also left part of his head cold to the touch. In the process, it was decided to remove his memories of whatever attacked him - which resulted in him losing all memories of his family - in case it was a traumatic incident.

He grows up in the woods with the trolls, but is alone once he’s old enough to fend for himself. There’s something pestering him that he should have someone by his side, and took to talking to himself out loud to lessen the silence. This is how he eventually befriends Sven, and the pair quickly become thick as thieves.

In the summer months, Damien is the ice guy, and he’s the wood guy in the winter. Which means a snowstorm in the middle of summer means he isn’t completely prepared.

-

What about Celine? Her powers amplified rapidly through grief and guilt, the fear utterly consuming her. The King and Queen realises she needs a friend her age to talk to, and one of the servants has a child that fits that category perfectly. This is who would be considered the Attorney/Reader, but might go a name like ‘Noble’. They try their best to keep Celine company, even if it’s through the door. Clueless to the reason she locks herself away, they are determined to try and help.

Skip forward to the future, and Celine’s coronation day. She lost her brother, she lost her parents, and she’s terrified of losing her only friend. She withdraws even more, but tries to reach out a little during the party. Meanwhile, Noble has met (you guessed it) Mark. 

Now here’s the kicker - everything I just wrote isn’t necessarily an AU. Instead, what if I told you it’s set in the wintery world of the animation? Mark didn’t barge in as he did in that tale. Instead, he created another bubble with a story right beside it and allowed the two to merge together. ‘Noble’ is actually from outside the bubble, sent on a mission to try and break the story from within by their own Dark (and maybe their Actor as well. Multiple universes can be fun like that!). But the Mark in this tale immediately spotted the outlier and yanked them into the story, whisking them away in the fantasy and making them love him while also giving them fake memories so they slot into the story better.

Everything happens as it does in the normal plot, including Damien and Noble meeting. Damien is grounded, a little more cynical and keeps his true personality to himself. He discovers Noble is chasing their best friend (the newly crowned Queen) across the wintery landscape, and the storm started because they got engaged to a stranger (Mark). Which of course:

doesn’t go down very well. What do you know about love, if you’ve willing to jump to this extreme?

-

Damien, in a way, is the unexpected curveball in the story. Mark didn’t see him and assumed he had perished along the way or had been hidden in a room in the castle. Even when Noble and Damien arrive at the ice castle, Celine doesn’t recognise her own brother because they were children when she last saw him.

There aren’t many other divergences to this tale that I can think of this late at night. It would transpire that Damien and Celine would eventually be reunited. When Celine thaws the kingdom and the evil has been punched, she approaches Damien and offers her thanks. Whatever he wants in return, she’ll give it. Damien tries to dismiss it on the grounds of him being happy to see Noble safe, but Noble objects. While with the trolls, they had discovered that Damien had saved by the trolls after an accident that left his head cold. They request that she thaw that out if she could.

She reaches out to do so. The white in his hair fades and the memories held in place by the ice that weren’t removed by the trolls slip through to let Damien remember something very important:

“Sister?”

Cue utter bafflement and an emotional reunion.

-

One final thing. I have Wilford mentioned in the tags, but I haven’t brought him up. This is the best part. On the outside, Dark is growing impatient that the ‘Attorney’ hasn’t returned yet and fears they’re trapped in the story. They instruct Wilford to go in and find them, since Dark himself would be too obvious. Wilford is given the order to disguise himself as something that isn’t pink.

Wilford pokes his head into the story.

Wilford pulls his head out and asks if he can have fun.

Dark sighs and accepts, on the condition that it isn’t something that won’t ring alarm bells if the Mark within the story spots him.

With a carrot inserted backwards, and two extra leaves torn off to attach to a button, Wilford takes the place of Olaf (or Wilolaf, as a friend lovingly typed in all caps when she saw the WIP). After all, he has to be careful snapping people out of their roles, and it’s better to take a softer route than arrive by shouting the truth in Noble’s face. He doesn’t slip into the role, but he absolutely has fun throughout the entire thing while making sure neither Damien nor Noble are in genuine danger. That sketch up there is the face of a man who knows exactly what he’s doing.

[justfrozenthings]

An Unusual Predicament

For Prompt 1 of FFC 2022: Rainy day or skinny dipping

Pairing: Anna/Kristoff

Rating: T

Words: 924

Summary: Kristoff was not expecting to spend the night trying to get his drunk, and now naked, girlfriend out of her family's pool.

Notes: I’m a little late posting this, and this fic is a little late, but I hope you enjoy this mess.

Ao3

To put it frankly, how Anna had drunkenly ended up skinny dipping in her family’s swimming pool on a Wednesday night was beyond Kristoff. Scratch that. That’s a lie. He did know, he just didn’t know how to convince his girlfriend to come inside the house. He knew that going to that party was a bad idea, but Anna wanted to go and, well, how could he tell her no with those puppy dog eyes of hers. However, that lead to the situation they was now and it certainly didn’t help that he was a little intoxicated and now, even a little sexually frustrated himself.

“Anna let’s get you some inside before you hurt yourself,” his voice a worried tone.

“But, I’m having fun,” she whined. “Come on Kris! Join me!,” she exclaimed, continuing to splash around in the water.

He knew he shouldn’t, but the strain he felt in his pants was telling him otherwise. I guess a few minutes wouldn’t hur-, Kristoff shook his head, ridding his mind of dirty thoughts. No. Stay focused, no matter how good her slender form looked in the water or how the water droplets on his breasts made him want to-, Fuck! Before his thoughts could get anymore dangerous, Kristoff turned on his heel, heading inside to grab a towel, quietly praying to himself that nothing bad happened to his mischievous girlfriend in the few minutes he would be gone.

Thankfully, his wish came true. He set the towel on one of the pool chairs before going around to the side where Anna was currently peeking over the edge as she watched him. “Okay feistypants,” Kristoff grunted as he put his hands under her arms, lifting her out of the water. Thankfully Anna’s parents weren’t here to see him hauling their naked daughter out of the water. While they allowed Anna to date, something told him they wouldn’t like seeing their daughter’s boyfriend holding her nude form. “Let’s get you to bed.” He carried her bridal style, setting her down on a chair, proceeding to wrap her in the white fluffy towel. If it had been earlier in their relationship, he would have avoided his eyes from Anna’s bare form, being the respectful gentleman his mother raised him to be; but since then their feelings for each other have developed even more, and yes, they that included already crossing that boundary, so seeing Anna naked wasn’t new. He rubbed her arms, in an attempt to warm her up faster.

“Mmm,” Anna hummed, burying her face deeper into the towel. She looked like a kitten curling up into a ball and the image made Kristoff smile.

He kissed the tip of her nose, “Does that feel better feisty?”

Anna nodded, her eyes drifting shut. Kristoff rolled his own, and gave a half-grin before picking her up bridal style once again.

Once they got inside, he made sure to lock the door behind him. The steps creaked as he tried to quietly walk up the steps to the best of his effort, eventually bringing them to the hallway that led to her room. She curled deeper into his chest, humming in contentment. He laid her down on her bed, her body immediately sinking into the downy sheets from her weight. He kept opening and closing drawers in his search for some pajamas and it was about four drawers later - Anna had a lot of space to put her clothes in - before he found a silky and, albeit, a little risqué, nightdress. Not wanting to waste anymore time getting his girlfriend to bed, however - and not wanting to go through any more drawers, he decided that it would have to do.

Getting Anna dressed didn’t go down without a fight. It wasn’t exactly that she was fighting back perse, but was too drunk to stand straight. Her arms would flail around and he would have to catch her as she clumsily tripped on her carpeted floor. To put it simply, she had two left feet more than usual. She still smelled of chlorine, but a shower could wait till the morning, as well as getting her to brush her teeth because if dressing her was a challenge, then cleaning her teeth would be impossible.

“Come on,” he grunted, lifting her up one final time. “Let’s get you tucked in.”

“No. I don’t wanna,” she grumpily protested, half-conscious. “Because that would mean you would have to leave and I don’t want you to leave.” She clung tightly to his neck, breathing in his scent as she wrapped her legs around him, preventing him from setting her down. And whenever he would ever try to unwind her, she would immediately wrap an arm and leg around him again.

“Fine,” Kristoff gave in. I was gonna sleep on the couch, but seeing as you're too stubborn to let go, I guess I have no other choice but to stay with you.” Which he definitely didn’t have any problem with, despite the faux agitated voice he put on, besides it’s not like he could go home; not with the state Anna is in. It wasn’t safe to leave her alone in such a condition and he would always be there to take care of her.

Content with this answer, she avidly let go. Turning off the lights, Kristoff padded his way back over to the bed, pressing Anna’s body against his and placing a kiss at the back of her head. “Good night feisty,” he spoke softly, before drifting off to sleep as well.

[hereisisa]

The person who came up with the idea of ​​making the Frozen theme on the cruise be a KA engagement party should be fired. There were so many other ideas they could use that didn't involve Kristoff pretending to be a prince charming. He doesn't know how to dance, he doesn't like that outfit and Elsa walking alone among the guests while KA walks along is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in a Frozen content. It's amazing how all post F2 content can make me sick.

Honestly I don't even want to hear about that crap, I don't want it associated to the good memories I had of pre-F2 Frozen. He went from shitting in the woods to prince charming and his fans don't scream about how not realistic this is? But they're all for realism when they want to kick Elsa out of her home, right? Hypocrites.

What I heard today of the Disney Cruise is the epitome of everything I ever hated about post F2 franchise. I thought they reached the ground, but they're starting to dig. (Btw: a small smile for the reporter who said he was bored to death at the dinner lol)

Anna used to sell so much better before f2, the gap between Anna and Elsa was 1 to 4. It's 1 to 7 (according to sale reports) after F2. Let them kill it. At this point there's nothing else to do. Put your money elsewhere. Yesterday I asked to my 10yr old how she feels about another Frozen movie.

She said "No please!!" I asked why and the reply was: "Because they keep ruining it! They do it with every movie. The first one is good, but then they make another, or a tv show, or a serie, or a short, and they ruin everything. Why they can't just let it go?"

Can't you blame her?!

I should tell her it's all about money.......So, again, put your money elsewhere. It's very little thing, but it's the only thing you can do. ;)

Have you noticed there are less "new comics" around lately? I've canceled my subscriptions to the 2 frozen magazines (italian and UK). I don't want to read more crap.

[dramaqueeenamby]

Waves: The Dinner

A/N: Not a single soul asked for this, but I couldn’t shake the idea, so here we are. Let me know if you like Waves content where the twins are older or naw.

Words: 3.5K

Warnings: None

TAGS: @babe-im-bi @notacamelthatsmywife @missyperle @queenoftheworldisdead @tashawar​ @valkryienymph​ @letsshamelessqueen-m​ @liquorlaughslove​ @lettytheletdown​ @hello-therree​ @missdforever​ @mani-lifes​ @toni9​ @koko-michelle

Waves

“You ask him.”

“Me?”

“No. Doggy. Yes, you, dummy.”

Elysha ignored the insult and settled for her initial follow-up question. “Why me?”

“Because he likes you better.”

“Bullshit,” she scoffed, reaching to steal one of Emmett’s pretzels. She scowled, however, when he snatched it from her and swallowed it whole. “Creep.”

“Lee, you know the rules.” The twins neglected to hide their surprise when Christopher sauntered into the kitchen, a faux stern expression on his face. “No bullying each other when the other person can hear it.” 

While Elysha smirked, Emmett rolled his eyes and muttered, “told you.”

Christopher chuckled and walked to the fridge, leaning over to pull out the pack of meat he’d pulled from the freezer the night before. “So, I take it you don’t want us to go to the dealership this weekend, eh?”

As Emmett’s eyes lit up with excitement, Elysha groaned and crossed her arms. “Papa, that’s not fair. Why is it he gets a new car and I don’t?”

“Because your brother held up his end of the bargain, while you, my beautiful little girl, did not,” Christopher reminded, handing the meat to Emmett who placed it on the counter and waited for his dad to reach him the rest of the ingredients. He checked the time on his Apple watch and mentally cursed. Damn, it was already time for dinner.

Elysha was seconds away from pouting and stomping. “Papa, I saved up money, too.”

“Yes, you did,” Christopher agreed, closing the fridge with a bottle of beer in one hand. “And you spent it all on a pair of boots.”

“But they were Gucci!”

“Good luck driving Gucci to school next week.”

“Shut up, Emmett!”

“What did I just say about bullying?” Christopher lectured as he instructed Emmett to hand him the stainless steel skillet. “Not when the other person can hear it.” A beat. “And you’ll be driving your sister to school, mate, so don’t be too smug.”

Elysha rolled her eyes and caught the way Emmett nodded his head in their father’s direction, eyes widening to convey the unspoken but urgent message.

Do it now!

Clearing her throat, she sauntered over to the counter where her father was starting to prep, hopping up, and earning a sideway glance.

“You’re lucky your mom’s not here,” he murmured, failing to tell her to get down. “Alright, what is it and how much is it gonna cost me?”

She shrugged casually. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” Christopher wasn’t even trying to hide his disbelief. “Elysha, do I need to call our lawyer?”

“Papa,” she interjected with the sweetest smile that she could muster. “Emmett and I were wondering, if, well-” She took a deep breath while playing with her fingers. “We want to invite two people over for dinner.”

Christopher looked over at the meat. “How much do you think they’ll eat?”

“Not tonight,” Emmett interjected. “Maybe this Friday?” He took a deep breath, scratching the back of his neck. “And it’s not just any two people, dad. It’s….the two people we’re talking to.”

Deep down, Christopher knew what his kids were trying to tell, err, ask him. However, if he wasn’t anything else, he was stubborn and could play the hell out of the obtuse role. “Jesus, all the people you have in my house for parties and you mean to tell me you two only talk to two of them?”

“No, papa, he means talking to, as if, ya know, dating.” A beat. “And mama said this is her house, you’re just a renter.”

“What? When did she say--never mind.” He could come back to that. One problem at a time. “So, why invite them over for dinner? Why not just throw another party you think your mother and me won’t find out about?”

Emmett ignored the sly remark about the parties. His dad was right. “Because we actually want you guys to meet them.”

Christopher carried the bowl over to the sink, turning on the faucet. “Is that so?” He saw the kids nod out the corner of his eye and asked, “have you asked your mother about this?”

“Not yet,” Elysha answered. “We figured we’d ask you first since you actually do all the cooking.”

“And because we were also hoping you could ask her for us.

“See, push long enough, and the truth always comes out from you two.” As the twins exchanged nonverbal communication, Christopher pondered their question. In the long line of expensive and wild things his kids had requested over the years, this was relatively tame, and it would cost nothing. Nothing monetary, at least. “Fine. Friday at 5. I’ll talk to your mother.”

“Seriously?” Elysha didn’t want to give him time to rethink his answer. Hopping off the counter, she gave him a tight side hug. “Thank you, papa. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled dismissively, seconds before Elysha buzzed out of the kitchen to call Jason and tell him that they were on.

“Thank you, dad.” Emmett kept it brief, squeezing his dad’s shoulders while sliding his phone out his pocket to see if Madi could Facetime when Christopher called out.

“Where are you going, mate? It’s your night to help me fix dinner.”

“But--”

“Unless you want to switch shifts with your sister, so you clean and she helps.”

He could have put up a fight, but considering Christopher had already agreed to both the dinner and talking to Summer for them, Emmett realized he had to pick his battles.

“What do you need me to do?”

------

“What are they even doing dating in the first place? They should be focused on school.”

“Babe, they’re straight A Honor Roll students.”

“Well, then, their sports.”

Summer sighed, securing the silk scarf around her edges. “Both are captains.”

“Work with me here, Elsa.”

She looked at him through her vanity mirror, eyebrow raised. “You want my help?” Standing up, she sauntered over to her husband, placing her arms around his waist. “Let it go, Kristoff.”

“Summer, our children are in the middle of a teenlife crisis. This is no time for games.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed him away, going to remove the decorative pillows from their bed. “Most parents would kill to have their kids let them know who they’re dating--”

“They’re not dating them. They’re talking.”

“--Our kids are inviting them over just so they can meet us, and you’re upset?” Hearing it aloud made her laugh. “Baby, people are dying. Find something else to grow gray hairs over.”

Christopher paused, watching her peel back her side of the blankets and climb in. “That’s low, swimming pool. Even for you.” A beat. “Maybe they’re being blackmailed.”

Summer sighed as he finally joined her in bed. She moved her body across the mattress, pressing herself into his side as he wrapped his arms around her. “You need a hobby.”

“How can I enjoy life when my children are suffering?”

“Oh my god.” Summer sat up in the bed and forced him on his back, climbing on top of him, hands restricting his wrist. “Christopher, the kids are alright. You, however, I am starting to worry about.” Any trace of humor depleted as she frowned while caressing his cheek, fingers playing with the hair of his beard. Scruffy Christopher was always her favorite. “Our babies are growing up, babe. We can’t stop it, no matter how much we may want to. We just have to be there for them, be supportive of them, so long as they’re not hurting themselves or anybody.” She moved her index finger to his mouth to silence him. “You will be fine, sir.”

He sighed, gently moving her hands up and down her sides. “How can you be so calm about this?”

“Oh, I’m imploding on the inside,” she admitted casually, lowering herself so her lips grazed his. “But, I’m also an EGOT winner, baby.” She moved her mouth to his ear, giving a slight tug with her teeth. “I can fake anything.”

Summer yelped when he switched so that his body was over his. “Not anything.”

------

“This is a bad idea. A terrible idea.”

Emmett looked over at Madi who was currently looking into her compact mirror, applying another unnecessary layer of mascara. She caught him looking and motioned to the road. “Focus.”

Emmett rolled his eyes and reached over, placing a hand on her lap. “Would you relax? They’re going to love you.”

“That’s easy for you to say. They’re your parents.” She leaned her head against the car window, mindful of her bun. It wasn’t easy fighting box braids in a bun, and she surely did not have time to do a redo. “You don’t get it. Your parents are….you freaking mom is….she’s my idol. She’s every little black girl’s idol, and now I’m just supposed to walk up to her, extend my hand, and say, ‘Hi, Mrs. Hemsworth. I worship you. Also, I’m dating your son.”

Emmett shrugged. “Sounds good to me.” Madi reached over and shrugged him when Emmett grabbed her hand and brought it to her mouth. “I promise it’s going to be fine.”

She sighed, leaning back and looking at him while she gently asked. “How do you do that?”

He chuckled. “Do what?”

“Make me feel better so easily.”

Emmett smiled and winked. “I got my daddy’s charm.”

Madi smirked and lowered the armrest. “You also have his car.”

Emmett sucked his teeth. “I’m getting mine soon.” She laughed. “I’m serious.”

“I’m sure you are, baby. I’m sure you are.”

------

“Are you insane, Elysha?”

She sighed, switching out her textbooks. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

Jason’s eyes nearly doubled in size as he stared down at her. “Your dad is going to kill me. That’s the big deal.” Elysha laughed, checking the time on her watch. Being late for class was a pet peeve of hers. There was no excuse. “Oh, I’m glad you find my upcoming murder funny. Why don’t you just livestream it, too?”

“You are completely overreacting,” she sighed, shutting her locker and keeping her hand flat on the locker. “My dad isn’t like that. He’s super chill.”

“Chill?” He repeated her term while accepting the books she handed him so that she could adjust her uniform top. “I’m sorry, but have you seen your dad? He’s freaking huge.”

Sighing, she relieved him from the books after being satisfied with her tie. “Okay, and?”

As she began to walk, Jason kept the same pace with her, lowering his voice so that the other students couldn’t overhear. “Wait, are your uncles going to be there too? Fuck. I’m so screwed.”

While she understood his concern, she couldn’t help but find the whole thing humorous. Everyone seemed to believe her dad’s size meant he was a holy terror when it was the complete opposite. “Jason, my uncles are even more chill than my dad. Trust me.”

“On your mom’s side too?”

She laughed. “Oh no, they’re all crazy.” Elysha placed her arm around his waist when he moved his around her. “No, I promise my parents are going to love you, and that includes my dad.”

“I’m the first guy you’ve ever introduced to them, huh?” Her silence didn’t help. “Even better.”

She stopped walking, forcing him to do the same. Naturally, people walked around them, no one wanting to interrupt one of the “it” couples on campus. “Look, Jason, if you don’t want to do this, then you don’t have to. I just-I just wanted you to meet my parents, because I want them to know about you.”

“Stop,” he interrupted, shaking his head and cupping her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I just, I really like you, and I just-I want to make the best first impression that I can.” He dropped his hands, taking hers in his. “I want them to know how crazy I am about their daughter.”

She smiled, looking down to hide her bashfulness, only for him to bring his finger under her chin. He matched her smile. “What time do you want me to be there?”

------

“They’re here!”

Summer and Christopher shared a look, his sigh of exasperation forcing her to walk over to him, placing her hands on his chest. “Be nice.”

“I’m letting them in my house, aren’t I?” Summer slapped his arm, forcing him to relent. “Fine. I’ll be fair. For now.”

“There will be no embarrassing stories or threats of violence issued, do I make myself clear?” Summer wagged her finger and turned away, purposely switching her hips, hiding her smirk when her husband slapped her ass and whistled.

“Mama! Papa!”

“Coming,” Summer called out, speeding up her pace as she made her way out the study and down the hall, allowing a kind smile to grace her face as she was met with her children and their friends.

Elysha was the first to speak, clearing her throat. “Mama, this is--”

“Jason,” she guessed, withholding her laugh when Elysha seemed surprised, while Summer pointed to the tall young man with striking green eyes and dark brown hair that grazed past his ears. Strangely enough, he reminded her of Christopher in some of the family albums she’d been shown during one of the many family dinners with her in-laws.

“I told you I have eyes in the back of my head.” Jason gave a nervous laugh that prompted her to take it easy on him. He seemed terrified.

Finally, he spoke, giving a weak clearing of his throat.. “Yes ma’am. It’s so nice to finally meet you.” Elysha cleared her throat, reminding him about the flowers in his hands. “I’m sorry. These are for you.”

“Thank you.” Her smile widened as she sniffed them. “Gardenias. One of my favorites.”

He seemed relieved by that information, prompting her to turn to the young wide eyed girl who also looked as though she was close to passing out.

Emmett took advantage of the opportunity to introduce Madi. Summer smirked when she saw he had his hand on the small of the young lady’s back. “And mama, this is-”

“Madi.” Again, Summer was correct and almost offended by the surprise on their faces. “Do ya’ll not believe me when I tell you that I know everything?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “It’s so nice to meet you as well--”

“--Madi.”

“--I love you.”

They spoke at the same time. Summer laughed and placed her hand on Madi’s shoulder who was clearly mortified by her unintentional confession.

“I mean--I don’t--I mean, I do, but….” Madi shut her eyes and quietly murmured, “I’ll just shut up now.”

Summer shook her head, never once dropping her friendly smile.

“You both need to relax. I promise you have nothing to be nervous about.” She nodded in the direction of the dining room. “Come on.” Summer guided the four to the room, stepping aside to allow them to enter while she turned around to direct them to their seats when Christopher finally decided to make his presence known.

“Sorry about that.” He rubbed his hands on the towel in his hands before tossing it over his shoulder. He approached Madi first. “Madison?”

She was clearly awestruck, eventually shaking her head to accept her handshake. “Please, call me Madi, Mr. Hemsworth. It’s so nice to meet you.”

He waved her off and smiled. “Chris is fine.” That smile dimmed when his eyes landed on Jason. “Hello.”

Elysha grabbed his hand, giving a light squeeze. “Papa, this is Jason.”

“Nice to meet you, Jason,” Christopher forced, squeezing Jason’s hand tighter than necessary but just enough to get his message across. “You play any sports, mate?”

“No. I mean, yes--basketball.” He swallowed deeply, remembering something else. “I also surf as well, Chris.”

“Mr. Hemsworth will be fine,” he corrected.

Summer rolled her eyes and shoved him. “Pay him no mind. Ya’ll sit down and make yourselves comfortable.”

“I’m sure you already have, though.” Christopher joked, earning a glare from Summer. “Come on, babe. No one throws a party like the twins.” A beat. “Speaking of, I’d say we could give you a tour, but I’m sure you both already know your way around.”

“Ignore him,” Summer interjected, shooting him a glare. “He’s still upset that you kids are able to throw a party better than we ever could when we were your age.”

That seemed to alleviate more of Jason’s nerves. “You used to party, Mrs. Hemsworth?”

“Boy,” she laughed. “If you don’t call me Summer.” Elysha smiled up at him, giving him a slight squeeze of his hand. “And what do you mean used to?”

Madi was also fully invested in the conversation, her fangirling almost impossible to contain. “You really are even nicer in person.”

“Don’t be fooled. It’s all an act.” Christopher interjected, walking over to pull the chair out for her. He noticed how Jason did the same for Elysha, and of course, Emmett with Madi.

“Ignore him. He’s actually hired help.”

Summer and Christopher shared a look as he rolled his eyes while murmuring. “Cute.” Sitting in his own seat, he jumped into the questions. “So, kids, tell us about yourselves.”

Madi and Jason shared a look when he told her to go first. Again, something else Christopher noticed.

“Well, I’m a junior, an only child, and my dad is in the Navy--”

“So, your family is stationed here?” Summer surmised.

“Yes ma’am.” Christopher and Summer exchanged a look, but unlike the previous ones, this was not a warning from wife to husband. This one was of silent concern. Madi wasn’t an Australian native. She would eventually return to the states. Both mother and father quietly wondered if that was something Emmett was taking into consideration.

After briefly discussing the shared commonalities of having active duty family members, Christopher turned the question back to Jason. “And what about you, young man?”

Summer contained her sigh at the way his eyes widened before he tentatively spoke. “Well, sir--”

“Chris is fine.”

Both Summer and Elysha looked over at that last statement, Summer with a smirk and Elysha with a small smile. Chris looked at his daughter and shot her a wink.

Jason, to Summer’s happiness, seemed thrilled by the stripping of the formal address.

“I, well, my family is originally from Melbourne--”

“Melbourne native, eh?”

“Yes, sir. My, uh, dad got a job up here when I was eight, and we’ve been here ever since.”

“Any siblings?”

Jason chuckled. “Believe it or not, two. I’m the middle child.”

“Nothing wrong with that.” Christopher shrugged. “I’d say we’re the best.”

“Elysha and Madi.” Summer stood up and nodded to the kitchen. “Help me prepare the toss salad.”

“Yes ma’am.” Elysha also stood up and shot a reassuring look to Jason while Emmett gave one to Madi as well. As soon as the ladies were in the kitchen and the swinging doors shut, Summer released a sigh of relief. “Finally, that was too much testosterone.”

Madi laughed. “You and Mr--Chris are really nice, Summer.”

Elysha nodded and playfully bumped Madi with her hip. “Told you they were chill. Even my dad is being surprisingly nice to Jason.”

“Ladies, trust me, if Chris didn’t really like either of you, he would let you know. He’s just giving Jason a hard time because Elysha is his little girl. He’s always going to be protective.” She reached the bowl to Madi while speaking. “Just how I’m protective of my little boy.” Madi’s smile dimmed. “So you can imagine how proud I am to see his amazing taste in women.” She winked and laughed when Madi placed her hand over her chest.

She straightened up and spoke truthfully. “I really do like Emmett, Summer. He’s….he’s amazing.”

“He’s a jerk.”

“Shut it, Elysha,” Summer warned with a small head shake. “You know, Madi, you should join Lee and me on one of our spa days.”

Her jaw dropped. “A-are you serious?” She looked at Elysha who seemed just as thrilled by the idea of a spa day with her mom and good friend.

“Of course, and Emmett told me you’re in theater with Lee, so if you ever need any advice or have any questions, I’m always available.”

“I’m going to pass out.”

Summer laughed and gave Madi a side hug. “Welcome to the family, Ms. Madi.”

Just as Elysha and Madi shared excited squeals, Emmett stuck his head in the door.

“Mama, ya’ll almost done?”

“Boy, don’t rush us.”

He lifted his hands in surrender. “Sorry, mama, it’s just that Uncle Liam is here--”

“What?” She interrupted, hand on her hip. “What the hell is he doing here?”

“I don’t know, but dad just asked Jason how he feels about weekly, random drug tests.”

“Christopher!”

[janeofcakes]

Soulmates: How John Met Sherlock...Again Chapter 6

Sorry I'm late this time, my friends. I had a busy weekend and have now fallen victim to the blasted cold that's been making its way through my family. I don't seem to have it as badly as my husband did, thank goodness. I'm going to post and answer some comments, so if you get one from me that sounds a little bizarre, it's the cold medicine. Lol.

---

Monday morning is a busy one at 221B. Greg calls with a case in the middle of breakfast that has Sherlock scrambling to conscript Mrs. Hudson into taking Olive to school. He places his daughter’s lunch on the kitchen table next to her backpack and throws on his coat. Tipping down to kiss Olive on the cheek, he whispers I love you and have a good day. With that, Sherlock grabs a piece of toast and rushes from the room.

Olive sits at attention, the adrenaline of watching her father hurry around the room still in her veins, but it wanes as soon as she hears the click of the flat door. She lets out a long sigh and slouches a little into her chair. After the bits and pieces she had observed at Mycroft’s birthday party, she was even more curious about Gracie’s dad than when they left the park on Saturday. Something was off. John had absolutely no problem with her or her father until he met him, but had he only just met Sherlock two days ago? Olive isn’t so sure, especially after the way her uncles acted yesterday when she brought up the playdate refusal.

Olive raises her fork and chews on the eggs thoughtfully. Her father had been extremely irritated yesterday, in spite of trying to hide it, and Uncle Myc was definitely the cause. She has seen them argue before, of course. Perhaps heard is the better word. They avoid it when she is in the room and Uncle Greg usually distracts her somehow. Every so often, curiosity gets the better of her and she sneaks away from Greg to listen. Her father doesn’t seem to have ever gotten on well with his brother. Olive used to wonder if that is why she has no brothers or sisters, but dismissed the idea when she was five. She likes that it’s just her and her dad. The two of them against the world. Olive smiles to herself. Now she has Gracie too.

With that thought, Olive’s mind turns back to John. She had planned on cleverly asking Sherlock questions about him over breakfast and had even started working their conversation in that direction, but then Uncle Greg had phoned. To make matters worse, Mrs. Hudson will get her to school later than usual, effectively robbing her of all the time she has to talk to Gracie before classes start.

Olive grumbles around another bite, cursing the fact that she has to wait until lunch and that’s when inspiration strikes. Their class has library time at 10:30. She and Gracie can go to the computers, but search up John instead of books. Maybe if they know more about his past they can figure out how their fathers know each other because Olive is convinced they do.

Olive is just beginning to determine how best to communicate this to Gracie before library time when the door to the flat opens.

“Yoohoo,” calls Mrs. Hudson pleasantly, “Are you ready, dear? We really must be on our way.”

Olive glances at the clock to see how much time got away from her. Too much. She hops up and places her empty dishes in the sink. Pulling on her coat, she grabs her bag and lunch. Mrs. Hudson is smiling brightly as Olive runs down the hall.

“Good morning, Mrs. H,” Olive breathes as they hug one another tightly.

“Good morning, my darling,” Mrs. Hudson laughs warmly. “I take it Uncle Mycroft’s birthday was a success?”

“Yep,” Olive pops the P as she pulls away to look at her with twinkling eyes. “The cake was delicious. Thanks for the recipe.”

“My pleasure, dear,” Mrs. Hudson waves a hand as they pass through the door. She pulls it closed as Olive starts down the stairs. “And his presents?”

“He loved them,” Olive grins back at the older woman. “We pinned the donkey eight times and I won the most times.”

“Did you? That’s wonderful,” Mrs. Hudson chuckles to herself as she catches up with Olive in the foyer. “I’d give my good hip to see your uncle playing a party game. Must be Gregory’s influence.”

The mention of her other uncle jogs Olive’s memory and she turns, her face filling with glee, as she swings open the door to the building. Mrs. Hudson pauses in front of her, excitement already growing at just the look on Olive’s face.

“Uncle Greg asked Uncle Myc to marry him!” the girl all but shouts, throwing her arms in the air.

“Oh my goodness, that’s wonderful,” Mrs. Hudson clasps her hands together at her chin. “I always knew we’d find one for your uncle. Now we just need to find someone for your father.”

“Yeah!” Olive exclaims before she really considers Mrs. Hudson’s words. She frowns as they walk outside and down the steps to the pavement. They cross to the sleek black car waiting for them. The driver greets them as he opens the back door and they are soon on their way. All the while, one question rattles around in Olive’s mind.

“Do we?” she asks after the car has started moving. She slides her eyes to Mrs. Hudson, who looks at her inquisitively. “Do we want to find someone for Dad?”

Olive swallows loudly in the silence that follows. Mrs. Hudson’s face does not change, she merely tilts her head to the right as she considers. It doesn’t make Olive feel like she has asked something bad, but it was definitely unexpected.

“I mean, it’s always been the two of us,” Olive ventures with some uncertainty, “and things are good. Why add someone else?”

“Don’t you want your father to be happy?” Mrs. Hudson asks and Olive frowns mightily, clutching her bag to her chest tightly.

“He is happy,” the girl mutters defiantly.

 “Oh, of course he is. That’s not what I meant, sweetie,” Mrs. Hudson reaches for her arm and touches it gently. Still glowering, Olive raises her grey eyes to meet the older woman’s soft brown gaze. “Your father loves you dearly and he is certainly very happy. It’s just that his heart has so much love to give and it’s a different kind of love. Like the kind Mycroft shares with Greg. I call it romantic love.”

“Romantic love?” Olive raises a skeptical brow, tiny wrinkles forming on the bridge of her nose.

“Yes,” Mrs. Hudson continues in a solemn tone. “You will feel it too one day when you meet a boy or girl you want to spend your whole life with, to kiss and hug.”

“Like on the mouth?” Olive asks, straightening her spine a bit and pulling her head back. Mrs. Hudson nods with a little smile. “Like Anna and Kristoff?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Hudson laughs. “Just like that. Like Mycroft and Greg.”

Olive’s expression becomes very serious. She shakes her head and releases the vice grip hold on her bag.

“Uncle Myc and Uncle Greg are nothing like Anna and Kristoff,” she says flatly. “They’re more like that older one. Beauty and the Beast.”

“Ha!” Mrs. Hudson crows, throwing up her hands. “I won’t even ask which one’s the beast.”

Olive grins mischievously and ducks her head, laughing with the older woman. The car stops outside the school as their merriment dies down. Mrs. Hudson puts her hand on Olive’s before she moves to leave the car.

“Know that having someone in your father’s life will never make him love you less,” she tells the girl tenderly. “There’s nothing on earth that could ever do that.”

“I know,” Olive says with a grin. She dives for her godmother and gives her a big hug as the first bell rings. 

“Oh no. Hurry, dear, get to class,” Mrs. Hudson shoos her toward the door. “Sherlock will never forgive me if you’re late.”

“Thanks, Mrs. H,” Olive says, popping open the door. She runs for the three-story school building and is inside in minutes.

***

“So we are up to the number five in our multiplication table,” Mrs. Jennings finishes writing a large five next to a line of smaller numbers running from one to nine. She turns to face the class as she explains. Gracie is watching intently like most of the other kids, but Olive’s head is down while she scribbles on a scrap of paper. “As you know, these numbers are basically how many times five is added to itself, but there’s a secret to the number five that makes it one of the easiest to multiply. Start moving along the number line, writing your answers on paper and raise your hand when you know what the secret is.”

Heads go down as everyone begins working through the equations. Just as Gracie jots down twenty-five, she notices a folded scrap of paper on the desk between she and Olive, who is watching out of the corner of her eye. Gracie glances to the side and up to the whiteboard where Mrs. Jennings is slowly walking from side to side to make sure everyone is on task. Gracie licks her lips, leaving just the tip of her tongue poking out as she casually covers the scrap with her palm and slides it close. With the paper on her notebook where it can blend in with her work, she unfolds it and peers at Olive’s writing.

Your dad doesn’t like my dad.

Gracie blinks and furrows one brow while simultaneously cocking the other one. She nearly turns to look at Olive to ask an incredulous ‘What’ with her face, but resists the urge and scratches out a quick response instead. Folding the paper in half and sliding it back to the middle of the desk, Gracie raises her eyes to the front of the room again.

“All right. Who knows the secret?” Mrs. Jennings breaks the silence. “Teri?”

“You start with five and basically count by fives all the way up the line,” the girl answers from her seat in the second row. The pencil in her right hand is poised to write while the index finger of her left hand winds her long red hair around itself. Gracie watches knowingly at the nervous tell. It is just one of the many keys to observation Olive has taught her.

“Perfect. So why don’t we do that together, and remember to write it down as we go,” Mrs. Jennings moves to the whiteboard to write as well.

“Five, ten,” Teri begins and the rest of the class starts in with her until they reach forty-five. 

“And there is our multiplication table for the number five,” Mrs. Jennings remarks and turns back to the class. “Does everyone see how we got that?”

Heads are bobbing up and down when Gracie notices the scrap of paper again. She slips her hand over it and moves it close.

“Good,” Mrs. Jennings is saying. “Let’s move on to number six. Write out the number line with six as your common denominator.”

Gracie quickly does this, if a little messily, and opens the note. Olive’s words are clearly printed under Gracie’s own message.

(Gracie) He just met him.

(Olive) But he doesn’t like him.

Gracie frowns and glances at Olive, who is staring straight ahead at Mrs. Jennings so as not to give them away. Gracie underlines her previous statement and slides the paper back toward Olive. It is back on her side of the desk in no time.

There’s something going on though. He kept looking at Dad like he’d seen him before and he freaked out about a playdate at mine.

Gracie glances in Olive’s direction, wondering how she wrote all of that so quickly. Getting a little irritated by the accusation, she writes hastily in a jerky script.

He didn’t freak out.

She passes it back.

“Good job, Michael,” Mrs. Jennings interrupts Gracie’s train of thought. “Now, what is six times four?”

Gracie quickly scrawls twenty-four in her notebook and looks up to see the note again. She huffs quietly at Olive’s words.

I don’t think he wants to come to my flat. 

Gracie is about to pen a disgruntled response when Mrs. Jennings calls on her. Apparently, her frustration is more evident than she realized.

“Doing okay, Grace?” the teacher asks. “Are you having any trouble?”

“No, Mrs. Jennings,” Gracie answers respectfully. Mrs. Jennings nods and then asks Gracie for the answer, which she gives succinctly. 

“Yes, Grace. Excellent work,” Mrs. Jennings commends her. “Six times four is the same as adding six to itself four times.Does that make sense to everyone?”

Gracie scribbles ‘That’s ridiculous,’ beneath all the other messages. The scrap is getting full now, but her two-word response fits in the space perfectly. She pushes the paper away and starts writing the table for seven. Olive’s reply awaits her when she is finished.

No, it’s not. They obviously have a history.

Gracie grumbles deep in her throat and pointedly underlines ‘He just met him.’ again as Olive watches. The little blonde adds an exclamation point and looks at her friend smugly. Olive purses her lips, turns the scrap over and begins writing feverishly. ‘They KNOW each other.’

Gracie rolls her eyes and tears her own corner from her notebook. She writes quickly and shoves it at Olive, who reads it immediately.

Wait til library time.

Olive looks to her friend and gives a shallow nod right as Mrs. Jennings calls on her.

“Do you have an answer, Olivia?”

“Thirty-two,” Olive says smoothly, directing her eyes to their teacher.

Gracie’s eyes go wide and she looks at her friend’s notebook as their teacher compliments her work. Olive has already written the number line for eight. Gracie is a line behind, in spite of being sure that she was paying attention while reading and writing the last few notes. Thank god Mrs. Jennings had not called on her.

Gracie looks at Olive’s now smug face and blows out a breath that ruffles her bangs. How does Olive do it? It’s like she has two separate brains sometimes. The girls exchange a smile and return their attention to the white board, each one anxiously anticipating the day’s special.

***

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Gracie whispers from her seat across the table, leaning forward for emphasis. After what seemed like days, but was only an hour, their class had lined up and walked to the library. Gracie and Olive immediately went to their usual table where Olive presented all of her evidence, as she called it, that proved their fathers had known each other before meeting in the park. She pointed out everything from eyes widening slightly to changes in tone and bloody shuffling of feet. She noticed Gracie’s dad curling his left hand into a fist, which Gracie has never once seen him do. How did that mean he actually knew Sherlock already and how on earth did Olive notice all these things?

“It makes perfect sense,” Olive insists, her neck craned toward Gracie. She had hunched over, pressing her chest and arms to the table side as soon as she began laying out her analysis. It is her position of choice for intense conversation and plotting. “Just look at all the clues. There’s no other explanation.”

“There are plenty of explanations,” Gracie counters. “Maybe your dad reminds mine of someone.”

“And yours reminds mine too?” Olive barely contains a bark. “Nonsense. No such thing as coincidence.”

“If they know each other, why wouldn’t they just say so?” Gracie throws her hands up as far as she dares in this setting.

“Adults have secrets, Gracie,” Olive mutters in a low voice. “Just like we do. There’s something they don’t want us to know.”

“Like what? They robbed a bank together?” Gracie snorts quietly. “No. I’m sorry, Olive. I can’t believe it. My dad never met Sherlock Holmes before we met you in the park.”

Gracie’s words slow as she reaches the end of the sentence. Olive starts in on trying to convince her, but her voice fades into the background. Things click inside Gracie’s head and for the first time since the conversation began, it all makes sense. Or doesn’t, as the case may be. If her father knew Sherlock, why wouldn’t he just tell her? Why keep it to himself? Gracie presses her lips together in thought. ‘You can have a playdate eventually. Just give me some time,’ he had said. Sherlock is obviously someone he had not expected to run into, but he must have been special to John at some point. Why else would he…

“Are you even listening?” Olive’s irritated tone suddenly breaks through Gracie’s thoughts. She blinks and looks at her friend with wide eyes. Olive huffs. “I’m not going to tell you all over again.”

Olive sits back in her chair, arms across her chest and a petulant look on her face. It only takes a second though before she reads Gracie’s expression and leans in again. Her grey-blue eyes shift rapidly between Gracie’s and she cocks her head slightly in consideration.

“What is it?” her voice is low and brimming with excitement.

“They do know each other,” Gracie breathes, “and they must have liked each other a lot.”

“Why? Why?” Olive can barely stay in her seat and she struggles to keep her voice down. “What is it?!”

Gracie wets her lips, her eyes darting to the right and left, as she leans close.

“My middle name is Holmes,” she tells her friend quietly. 

“What?” Olive gasps in a hushed voice. Then her face swiftly morphs into irritation. “And you’re only just NOW mentioning this?”

The librarian shushes her from across the room instantly and Olive looks at her apologetically. When her focus is back on Gracie again, her expression is less disgruntled and more eager. Still, Gracie starts in right away, wanting to beat her to the punch. 

“It was that first day with Jones and everything in the lunchroom,” she says in a rush. “She kept calling you Holmes and I thought she meant me at first. It was so weird, but I got distracted with hitting her and just sort of forgot about it.”

Gracie stops and watches Olive for a moment. The pieces are clearly falling into place for her too as she stares back with wide, luminous eyes. Her lips are shaped into a perfect O, but she hasn’t made a sound yet. Gracie hops a little in her chair, skooching forward to its edge and placing her hands flat on the table.

“Why would Dad name me Grace Holmes Watson if your dad wasn’t important to him?” Gracie takes in a quick breath when Olive gasps loudly, her hands flying to cover her mouth.

The librarian shushes them again and Gracie smiles a timid apology this time. She nods at the librarian’s silent warning, promising they will do better and then turns back to Olive. Her friend’s face is absolutely astonished, her eyes filled with shock and wonder. Olive knows something. Gracie’s words have pulled some key observation to the front of Olive’s mind and Gracie must know what it is. Now.

Gracie opens her mouth to speak, but Olive’s lips part first. Her voice comes out shaky with emotion.

“Olivia Watson Holmes,” is all she says.

Gracie’s eyes double in size and her face goes slack. They sit for a moment in utter silence, unmoving while the world slows to a stop around them. Gracie’s body is tingling and feels like it’s floating. It is almost too much to believe, like it can’t be real. Surely their fathers must have been best friends for them to name their daughters after each other. But then what happened? How did Gracie’s dad end up in Bath and why did he never mention Sherlock?

“Gracie?” Olive’s eyes are on Gracie when her own come back into focus. Their gazes meet and both brows crease with determination. They are of one mind. There is only one way to find the answers they want.

“Google,” they say together and rise from their chairs decisively, hands planted on the table to push them up.

Minutes later they are each seated in front of a desktop computer in the library lab. As luck would have it, they even got two next to each other and in a corner where their whispers are unlikely to bother anyone. Olive is scrolling through links to article after article from ten to twelve years earlier, all of them solved by Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Meanwhile, Gracie does much the same, though she has just stumbled across a goldmine.

“I can’t believe this,” Olive murmurs in a breathy tone. “Look at all these cases. Your dad is the partner in his stories. Dad’s man, Friday. His conductor of light.”

“Oh my god,” Gracie mumbles in disbelief.

“What?” Olive crowds in next to her and reads the title of the blog on Gracie’s screen. “The Personal Blog of Dr. John H. Watson.”

“They’re all here,” Gracie’s voice sounds far away. She just can’t believe this is all real. “All of Dad’s bedtime stories. The Mayfly Man, The Hounds of Baskerville, The Deadly Tealights, A Study in Pink. Every last one, and more.”

“What do you mean?” Olive asks in a confused tone. “These are all Dad’s cases.”

“Our dads are Sam and Dean,” Gracie stares at the screen, selecting one of the links and scanning the page rapidly.

“Sam and Dean?” Olive furrows her brow. “What are you on about?”

“Remember I told you my dad has these mystery stories that he tells me at bedtime?” Gracie turns to look at her friend urgently. “Two guys named Sam and Dean solve them all. I always thought Dean sounded kind of like Dad, but…” Her voice fades away and she looks back at the screen. “He actually is.”

“Go back to the home page,” Olive says. Gracie complies and Olive points. “Look at this one. ‘My new flatmate.’.”

They both read quickly and then eyes meet, wide with shock.

“They were flatmates,” Gracie breathes, astonished.

“No way,” Olive mutters. “No wonder your dad doesn’t want to come to my flat.”

“Wait, wait,” Gracie clicks back and scrolls, not finding what she wants. “But what happened? Why did he move away?”

She clicks on different links and they both read as their library time ticks away. With only minutes to spare, both girls sit back in their chairs, completely overwhelmed with the knowledge they now possess.

“Dad faked his own death?” Olive is dumbfounded, her face slack with shock. “He never told me that story.”

“Dad got married and just stopped,” Gracie shakes her head in disappointment. “Your dad even wrote the blog about the wedding. I just… I don’t understand. Dad obviously loved what he was doing and with his best friend too. Why would he stop?”

“All right, everyone,” Mrs. Jennings calls from the stacks. “Line up and back to class.”

The girls close their searches after clearing the histories. Olive is always on about covering their tracks. They walk to the end of the line in defeat. Their investigation turned up more questions and confusion than answers. Standing in silent thought as they wait for the line to move, Gracie makes a decision. She has to have answers.

“I can’t not know,” she says sternly, determination bright in her blue eyes. “I’m going to ask Dad about it tonight.”

“What? No!” Olive grabs her arm and Gracie turns to glare. “We can’t just ask them about it. They won’t tell us anything.”

“Then how are we supposed to find out what happened?” Gracie growls with frustration. The line begins to move and she has to turn her back on Olive to walk.

“We’ll carry out our own investigation,” Olive says in her ear. “This is our case. Our first case.”

“I don’t know how to do that,” Gracie grumbles without so much as a glance backwards.

“I do,” Olive’s voice has some of its usual tenacity again. “I’ll teach you at lunch and we can talk to them tonight.”

“I don’t know,” Gracie replies hesitantly. “I’ve never done anything like this before. What if I’m no good at it?”

“Ha,” Olive huffs. “You’ll be a natural. Trust me.”

***

Gracie raises her eyes from the book propped on her chest where she lies on the couch. Lifting her chin just a bit gives her the perfect view of her father sitting in his chair with the day’s newspaper in his hands. At this point in the evening, he has it folded in half so she can easily see his face. Olive said that was of the utmost importance because Gracie will see what John doesn’t say.

Still not sure if she is ready for this, Gracie runs through the list of features to watch for. There are obvious ones like eyes and eyebrows, knee-jerk expressions that are schooled away, mouth movements. Olive went on for some time about how different ways of wetting one’s lips mean different things. Gracie had never realized there were distinctions. Then Olive went on about twitches and other such things that were lost on Gracie. Given the time, she is sure she could learn and understand quite a bit about it all, but certainly not from what little she gleaned at lunch.

Gracie looks at her father again where he sits completely unawares, his eyes moving from left to right across the words on the page before him. With a fortifying breath, she clears her throat and starts with a question she hopes to build on without giving anything away.

“Dad, how long did you have a best friend?” Gracie asks as casually as she can manage, but it comes out sounding more like she placed air quotes around the words best friend. She closes her eyes immediately, supremely disappointed with herself and then pops them open quickly to check on her father. Allowing a tiny sigh of relief upon seeing that John has not even lifted his gaze from the paper, Gracie’s confidence level bounces back up.

John is frowning in thought at the page, so he has definitely heard her. His mouth opens and he looks about to give some cursory answer, but cocks a brow and shifts his gaze to hers instead.

“What?” John replies with a tone of confusion.

“Your best friend,” Gracie continues, lowering her book to lay flat on her chest. “I know you had one.”

“Oh. Right,” John pauses, glancing back at the paper and then looking at her over the top of his reading glasses. “I feel like we talked about this already.”

“We did,” Gracie answers somewhat abruptly, not wanting to give him much time to think on that, “but you didn’t say anything. Just that you solved cases together.”

“Medical cases,” John corrects and Gracie wants to smirk as she thinks ‘Medical cases, my foot’.

“What was he like? What did he do? What’s his name?” Gracie rattles off, even as she hears Olive’s voice in her head reminding her that they can’t just walk in and demand names. Gracie nearly shudders, but hides it with the movement of pulling herself up to sit.

“Whoa, whoa,” John lowers his newspaper to let it rest in his lap. “Where is all this coming from?”

“Well,” Gracie pauses a moment to try and get her thoughts together. She has to salvage this. “Now that I have a best friend, I want to know more about yours. Did you really like him? The way I like Olive?”

“I loved him,” John answers without hesitation and he looks like the candid response surprises even himself. Gracie’s eyes widen tenfold as John clears his throat and shifts the newspaper pages noisily. “We were quite close.”

“Wow,” Gracie breathes. Now she is getting somewhere. She wonders if Olive is having this much luck with her dad. “You must’ve done everything together.”

“We spent a lot of time together, yes,” John says somewhat absently. Gracie tilts her head in amazement. He is trying to affect indifference, like the whole friendship was perfectly normal and not at all a special part of his life, and Gracie can tell. Empowered, she continues.

“Solving cases,” she nudges in a light tone.

“Working on cases,” John corrects for the umpteenth time. “Medical cases.”

“Hmm,” Gracie hums in thought. When John cocks a brow as if wondering what she is up to, Gracie moves for distraction with another question. “Did you have lots of sleepovers?”

Unabashed laughter bursts from John’s lips and the clever girl smiles to herself. Distraction successful.

“No, sweet pea,” John chuckles and then back tracks. “Well, maybe in a manner of speaking. We shared a flat, so I suppose you could say every night was a sleepover.”

“Wow. That would be so awesome,” Gracie repeats, truly in awe for a moment as she thinks of it. Living in the same flat as Olive so they could play all the time and do schoolwork together and she could help with Olive and her dad’s experiments. The thought of Sherlock brings her back around to the task at hand. She aims for idle curiosity when asking the next question. “So what happened to him?”

“Erm,” John’s body visibly gives a slight shudder and a feeling of concern begins to rise up in Gracie’s throat. She bites her lip and considers brushing the inquiry aside when John straightens in his chair. “Sometimes…things happen. Sometimes friends can hurt you. And then Mary wanted to move and we just...left.”

“So Mary wanted to go to Bath,” Gracie has never once called Mary Morstan her mother. John has always just called her Mary, so Gracie does too. It is hard for her to think of Mary as anything since she has no part in Gracie’s life. She found an old wedding photo once, but has never met the woman. “And you just went with her?”

“She was my wife, sweet pea,” John answers simply.

“Well, why didn’t you call him?” Gracie frowns. “Or text?”

“It’s hard to explain,” John sighs. “Sometimes the things adults do are hard to understand.”

“Dad,” Gracie says in a dull voice and blinks her eyes into a roll like she is already a teenager, “I’m eight and a half years old. I can totally understand complicated things and I want to know. I don’t want that to happen with me and Olive.”

“It won’t. Of that I have no doubt,” John assures her with a quiet huff of a chuckle.

Gracie shifts on the couch to face him fully and sets her book aside. Fixing him with a serious expression, she goes in for the kill, a move Olive had explained very carefully.

“You said friends can hurt you sometimes,” she begins, already seeing that her words have the desired effect. “I’m sure they don’t mean to. Can you honestly say that will never happen to me and Olive?”

John lets out a weary sigh, sets aside his newspaper and rises to join her on the couch. He looks at her with soft eyes for a long moment and smoothes back her hair. Gracie licks her lips, looking at him expectantly.

“He hurt me very badly,” John’s voice is little more than a whisper. Gracie can hear the pain and regret in it. “I tried to pretend it wasn’t there, but...it was hard. Very hard. Mary saw it. SHe didn’t like him much in the end, so she did a little looking and found us a place in Bath. We broke off everything, all communication with all of our friends in London. We started over.”

“Damn,” Gracie murmurs before she can think better of it.

“Language, Gracie,” John scolds with a fond frown.

“Sorry,” she says quickly and then pauses a moment before asking tentatively: “Mary’s gone now. She has been for a long time. Would you ever want to be friends with him again?”

John takes a deep breath and stares over her shoulder for a moment. His eyes are far away and almost wistful. She can already see his answer in his expression, but waits to see if he will put it into words.

“Yeah,” he says finally. “I think I would.”

Victory.

John blinks and returns his gaze to his daughter, who is trying not to look too satisfied with her success. He smiles and pulls her into a hug, kissing the top of her head.

“It’s getting late, my Gracie girl,” John says affectionately. “We need to get you to bed.”

“Okay,” they both stand and head for the loo. “Are you going to call your best friend while I’m sleeping?”

“Ah, no,” John answers as if the proposal is absurd.

“What?” Gracie stops cold and stares up at him, looking for clues. She was sure she had solved it. Why wouldn’t he want to call Sherlock? “Why not? You said you want to.”

“It’s been too long, sweet pea,” John says almost sadly. “It’s all in the past and can’t be salvaged. It just happens that way sometimes.”

“But Dad,” Gracie starts, determined to make him see why that is stupid. John’s hands are on her shoulders now and he is gently guiding her to the loo.

“That’s enough for tonight,” he says good-naturedly. “You’ll be grumpy tomorrow if you don’t get enough sleep.”

“Dad!” Gracie lets out a loud declaration, looking back at him as she walks. “I will not be grumpy.”

“Still bedtime,” John reminds with an amused smirk. Gracie turns to face him and crosses her arms over her chest. She narrows her eyes and gives him a stern look, the bridge of her nose wrinkling.

“Fine,” Gracie mutters and quietly stomps to the sink to show her displeasure without enough defiance to get in trouble. John walks away with a half chuckle.

Gracie considers their conversation as she readies her toothbrush and brushes. Her dad would clearly like to be friends with Sherlock again. Gracie thinks he still likes him very much and Sherlock didn’t seem mean or anything when they were at the park. Plus, she has Olive’s word for it too. Why couldn’t they be best friends again? 

Olive will have a plan, Gracie resolves as she spits in the sink. Once she tells her friend all about this at lunch, Olive will have a plan and they can put it into action. Satisfied, Gracie rinses her toothbrush, puts it away and heads to her room for a bedtime story.

---

No mortal danger in this story, but still so many compelling questions! What will happen?? Only The Shadow (ME) knows. Mwahahahaha! Maniacal laughter. Next couple weeks are going to be busy, but I intend to keep on my posting schedule. See you all soon! Love, Jane

@johnlock-rocks